US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Wednesday discussed the importance of maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait at their meeting in Washington.
At a news conference after the meeting, Biden thanked Kishida for standing “shoulder to shoulder” with the US on a number of issues as the decades-long alliance between the two nations continues to grow.
Biden commended Kishida for “standing strong with the United States as we stand up for freedom of navigation, including in the South China Sea, and as we maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits; and taking the brave step of mending ties with the Republic of [South] Korea so we can all stand shoulder to shoulder together.”
Photo: New York Times / Bloomberg
On Kishida’s part, he said via an interpreter that he and Biden had underscored the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and confirmed their position to encourage peaceful resolution of the cross-strait issue.
In a joint statement issued after their meeting, Biden and Kishida expressed a common stance on Taiwan.
“We emphasize that our basic positions on Taiwan remain unchanged and reiterate the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity. We encourage the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.”
Meanwhile, in a fact sheet about Kishida’s official visit to the US and a state dinner hosted by Biden, the White House noted that both countries will “collaborate with like-minded partners to build trusted and more resilient networks and intend to contribute funds to provide subsea cables in the Pacific region, including US$16 million towards subsea cable systems for Tuvalu.”
This “will connect it for the first time in history, as well as the Federated States of Micronesia,” the fact sheet said.
“In addition, Taiwan also plans to provide funding to deliver connectivity to Tuvalu,” it said.
Tuvalu is one of Taiwan’s 12 diplomatic allies.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed its appreciation to Biden and Kishida for again publicly declaring their countries’ support for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
As China continues to step up its military provocations and gray-zone tactics against Taiwan, the joint statement after the summit again shows that the international community agrees on the importance of cross-strait peace, it said.
Taiwan welcomes the global community’s continued concern for peace and security across the Strait and will continue to play its part as a responsible member of the global community, working closely with like-minded partners like the US and Japan to promote regional peace, stability and prosperity, it added.
Additional reporting by CNA
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