US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on Saturday reiterated their opposition to any attempt to change the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait by force.
In a wide-ranging, one-on-one conversation on Saturday morning, the leaders “reiterated their resolve to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and “underscored their opposition to any attempts to change the status quo by force,” a White House news release on the meeting said.
They also “discussed their respective diplomacy with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and their shared concerns about the PRC’s coercive and destabilizing activities, including in the South China Sea,” it said.
Photo: Reuters
In addition to discussing their dedication to developing and protecting technologies such as artificial intelligence and semiconductors, they also “committed to sustain efforts to take the US-Japan Alliance to new heights and to continue standing side-by-side together as steadfast global partners.”
The gathering was also an opportunity for them to bid each other farewell, as Biden would leave office in January, while Kishida last month announced that he would step down.
Biden on Saturday also hosted Kishida, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, for the fourth in-person Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) leaders’ summit.
Photo: AFP
The Wilmington Declaration Joint Statement released after the summit said that they “unequivocally stand for the maintenance of peace and stability across this dynamic region, as an indispensable element of global security and prosperity.”
They also said that they “strongly oppose any destabilizing or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion” and “condemn the dangerous use of coast guard and maritime militia vessels, including increasing use of dangerous maneuvers.”
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday expressed its gratitude to the US, Japan and like-mined countries for restating the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region.
Their statements again demonstrated that the international community is highly concerned about peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, it said.
“As a responsible member of the Indo-Pacific, Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded partners to safeguard peace, stability, and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait and throughout the Indo-Pacific,” it added.
Meanwhile, at Saturday’s Quad meeting, Biden was caught on a hot mic telling the leaders that an aggressive China is “testing us,” in remarks that risked undercutting the summit declaration that carefully avoided mentioning Beijing by name.
“China continues to behave aggressively, testing us all across the region,” Biden was heard in what were supposed to be behind-closed-doors remarks.
Biden said that while Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) was focusing on “domestic economic challenges,” he was also “looking to buy himself some diplomatic space, in my view, to aggressively pursue China’s interest.”
The hot mic blunder risked undermining careful diplomatic efforts by all four countries during the summit to insist that their grouping is about more than just providing a counterweight to China.
Additional reporting by AFP
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