US President Joe Biden on Saturday affirmed his willingness to protect the US’ allies and reiterated that peace in the Taiwan Strait should be upheld, as Washington again called on Beijing to restrain itself after it conducted two-day military drills around Taiwan.
“I’ve always been willing to use force when required to protect our nation, our allies, our core interests. When anyone targets American troops, we will deliver justice to them,” Biden said in a speech to cadets graduating from the US Military Academy in West Point, New York.
He touted US security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region, including the AUKUS security pact with Australia and the UK, trilateral cooperation with Japan and South Korea, and recent engagement with Japan and the Philippines.
Photo: Reuters
The US also elevated the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India and Japan to support a “free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Biden said.
“We’re standing up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
Thanks to US military forces, the country is able to defend its values “by standing up to tyrants,” he said.
“Anyone who thinks they can threaten us, think again,” he added.
On the same day as Biden’s address, the US Department of State issued a statement to “strongly urge Beijing to act with restraint” after its drills around Taiwan.
After President William Lai’s (賴清德) inauguration on Monday, Beijing said his speech was an attempt to promote Taiwanese independence, in particular his statement that Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) are not subordinate to one another.
On Thursday and Friday, China conducted a large-scale military exercise, codenamed “Joint Sword-2024A,” around Taiwan, sparking concern and condemnation among the international community.
The US was “deeply concerned” about the military drills in the Strait and around Taiwan, US Department of State spokesman Matthew Miller said.
“We are monitoring PRC activities closely and coordinating with allies and partners regarding our shared concerns,” Miller said.
Beijing is “using a normal, routine, and democratic transition as an excuse for military provocations,” he said, adding that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait “is critical for regional and global security and prosperity.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement yesterday thanked Biden and the US government for supporting Taiwan.
At a time when democracies around the globe are facing challenges, like-minded partners have unanimously demanded that China exercise restraint, stop coercing Taiwan and cease any actions that undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, the ministry said.
The international community would not approve of Beijing’s attempts to blatantly interfere with Taipei’s democratic process, and would consider them provocative actions that aim to disrupt the “status quo,” it said.
The ministry called on China to resume exchanges and dialogue with Taiwan based on the principles of equality and dignity, and to jointly safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
Meanwhile, a group of US representatives, led by Republican Michael McCaul, who chairs the US House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, yesterday arrived in Taipei.
The delegation includes Republicans Young Kim, Joe Wilson and Andy Barr, and Democrats Jimmy Panetta and Chrissy Houlahan, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said in a statement.
Their four-day visit to Taiwan is part of a trip to the wider Indo-Pacific region, the AIT said.
The six representatives would be the first group of serving US officials to meet with Lai after his inauguration and China’s two-day drills.
“I think it’s very important that we show our strong support for Taiwan. I think it is a deterrent,” McCaul told NBC News before arriving in Taiwan.
Additional reporting by CNA
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
Taiwan is still in the process of assessing the possibility of recruiting workers from Eswatini, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday, adding that its goal is to help Eswatini upgrade its vocational training centers. If there are plans to recruit workers from Eswatini, safeguarding national security, protecting public health and ensuring the employment rights of Taiwanese would be prerequisites, Department of West Asian and African Affairs Director-General Yen Chia-liang (顏嘉良) told a news conference. Key considerations would also include filling labor shortages in specific industries, and fostering bilateral professional and technical exchanges, he said. Yen was asked about the progress of labor
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
RSS