The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday thanked US Secretary of State Antony Blinken for emphasizing the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and condemning China’s actions that threaten the region’s peaceful “status quo” during his meeting with Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) on Friday.
Blinken met with Wang on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly in New York City, where he stressed “the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the US Department of State said in a news release.
Blinken also raised concerns about the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) “dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea” and “PRC support for Russia’s defense industrial base and war of aggression against Ukraine,” it said.
Photo: AP
The ministry said it welcomes and appreciates US senior officials reaffirming their firm position and support for maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait during interactions with Chinese officials.
It also condemned China for continuing to threaten the peaceful “status quo,” when it said the international community is concerned with and committed to maintaining regional safety and stability.
“The ministry has noted that China in its news release about the meeting one more time included many falsehoods about Taiwan and Taiwan-US relations,” it said.
“The Republic of Taiwan (ROC) and the PRC are not subordinate to each other,” the ministry said. “China’s continued coercion toward Taiwan and its arbitrary military expansion in the region is the biggest source of disruption to regional peace and stability.”
Moreover, China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and its joint military exercises with Moscow in the Indo-Pacific region reflects the fact that China’s ambition has become a major threat to the world.
“A stronger Taiwan is better able to promote democracy, peace and prosperity around the world,” the ministry said, citing President William Lai’s (賴清德) prerecorded video address to this year’s Concordia annual summit on Tuesday.
“[We] hope Taiwan and other democratic nations would jointly support the democratic umbrella and counter authoritarian aggression,” the ministry cited Lai as saying.
Taiwan, as a responsible member of the international society, would continue to strengthen its self-defense capability and work with the US and like-minded countries in defending the rules-based international order to ensure the peace, stability and prosperity in the Taiwan Strait and Indo-Pacific region, it added.
Tropical Storm Usagi strengthened to a typhoon yesterday morning and remains on track to brush past southeastern Taiwan from tomorrow to Sunday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was approximately 950km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan proper’s southernmost point, the CWA said. It is expected to enter the Bashi Channel and then turn north, moving into waters southeast of Taiwan, it said. The agency said it could issue a sea warning in the early hours of today and a land warning in the afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the storm was moving at
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At least 35 people were killed and dozens more injured when a man plowed his car into pedestrians exercising around a sports center in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai on Monday night. Footage showing bodies lying on the pavement appeared on social media in the hours after the crash, but had vanished by early Tuesday morning, and local police reported only “injuries.” It took officials nearly 24 hours to reveal that dozens had died — in one of the country’s deadliest incidents in years. China heavily monitors social media platforms, where it is common for words and topics deemed
Typhoon Usagi yesterday had weakened into a tropical storm, but a land warning issued by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) was still in effect in four areas in southern Taiwan. As of 5pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Usagi was over waters 120km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the southernmost tip of Taiwan proper, and was moving north at 9kph, CWA data showed. The storm was expected to veer northeast later yesterday. It had maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126kph, the data showed. The CWA urged residents of Kaohsiung, Pingtung County, Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春) to remain alert to
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