The US Department of State on Wednesday reaffirmed its “rock-solid” commitment to Taiwan and said that Washington maintains the ability to resist any actions that would threaten Taiwan’s security, as China steps up its military pressure.
The remarks by State Department spokesman Ned Price came as a Chinese aircraft carrier group conducted drills in waters off Taiwan and as 15 Chinese planes entered Taiwan’s air defense identification zone that day, in the fifth straight day of such incursions.
Asked at a press briefing about Beijing’s apparent ratcheting up of pressure on Taipei, Price reaffirmed that the US’ commitment to Taiwan remains “rock solid.”
Photo: Reuters
Washington has watched with great concern China’s ongoing efforts to intimidate countries in the region, including Taiwan, he said.
In support of longstanding US policy, including the Taiwan Relations Act, the US “maintains the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security or the social and economic system of the people on Taiwan,” he said.
On the same day, a spokesman for the US Department of Defense was asked if the transit of a US naval vessel through the Taiwan Strait was related to the recent uptick in tension.
The USS John S. McCain, an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer, conducted “a routine Taiwan Strait transit April 7 through international waters in accordance with international law,” a press statement by the US Navy’s 7th Fleet said.
However, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said that the US does not conduct freedom of navigation exercises around the world in response to specific events or actions, but rather to demonstrate its commitment to the freedom of all nations to “sail, operate and fly in accordance with international law.”
Asked to comment on Price’s remarks, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) yesterday questioned who is really using intimidation tactics in the Taiwan Strait, as well as other places around the world.
US vessels have been flexing their muscles in the Taiwan Strait, sending wrong signals to pro-Taiwan independence forces and posing a threat to the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait, he said at a news briefing, while highlighting US’ military action in the Middle East over the past few decades.
China has never meant to intimidate anyone, nor will it fear anybody’s intimidation, he said, urging the US to abide by the “one China” principle and the three Sino-US joint communiques.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
FATALITIES: The storm claimed at least two lives — a female passenger in a truck that was struck by a falling tree and a man who was hit by a utility pole Workers cleared fallen trees and shop owners swept up debris yesterday after one of the biggest typhoons to hit the nation in decades claimed at least two lives. Typhoon Kong-rey was packing winds of 184kph when it slammed into eastern Taiwan on Thursday, uprooting trees, triggering floods and landslides, and knocking out power as it swept across the nation. A 56-year-old female foreign national died from her injuries after the small truck she was in was struck by a falling tree on Provincial Highway 14A early on Thursday. The second death was reported at 8pm in Taipei on Thursday after a 48-year-old man
RSS