China accused the United States of sending “very dangerous and wrong signals” Taiwan After the US Secretary of State told his Chinese counterpart on Friday that maintaining peace and stability in Taiwan is very important.
Taiwan was the focus of the 90-minute “direct and sincere” talks between the foreign minister, Anthony Blinkand Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, a US official told reporters.
“For our part, the secretary made it clear that – in accordance with the long-standing, one-China policy, which has not changed again – maintaining peace and stability across the straits is very important and vital,” a US senior administration official said.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in a statement on the meeting, said that the United States is sending “very wrong and dangerous signals” to Taiwan, and the more widespread Taiwan independence activity is, the less likely a peaceful settlement will be reached.
“The Taiwan issue is an internal Chinese affair and the United States has no right to interfere in what method will be used to solve it,” the ministry quoted Wang as saying.
Tensions escalated over Taiwan after a visit there in August US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – which were followed by large-scale Chinese military exercises – as well as a pledge by US President Joe Biden to defend the autonomous island.
Biden’s statement was the most explicit yet on mandating US forces to defend the island. It was also the latest example of what appears to have bypassed a longstanding US policy of “strategic ambiguity,” which does not make clear whether the United States would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan.
The White House has insisted its policy on Taiwan has not changed, but China said Biden’s comments sent the wrong signal to those seeking an independent Taiwan.
in Phone call with Biden in JulyChinese leader Xi Jinping warned of Taiwan, “He who plays with fire will perish with it.”
The State Department had previously said that Blinken’s meeting with Wang was part of a US effort to “maintain open lines of communication and manage competition responsibly,” and the senior official said Blinken reiterated the US’s openness to “cooperation with China on matters of global concern.” .
The official added that Blinken also “highlighted the implications” if China were to provide material support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or evade sanctions wholesale.
US officials have said in the past that they have seen no evidence of China providing such support.
The official said Blinken “stressed that the United States, China and the international community had an obligation to act to counter the effects of that invasion as well as to deter Russia from taking further provocative actions.”
China considers Taiwan one of its provinces. Beijing has long vowed to bring Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so.
Taiwan’s government strongly opposes China’s claims to sovereignty and says only the island’s 23 million residents can decide its future.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry, responding to the meeting between Blinken and Wang, said China’s “recently provocative measures” had made the Taiwan Strait a focus of discussion, and China had been trying to “confuse the international public with arguments and criticisms contrary to reality.”
Blinken’s meeting with Wang was preceded by a meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quartet of Australia, India, Japan and the United States, who issued a statement referring to the Indo-Pacific region, saying: “We are firmly opposed to any unilateral measures that seek to change the status quo or increase tensions in the region.”
Since Pelosi’s visit, the US official said, “China has taken a number of provocative steps that have purposefully altered the status quo.”
Another US official said US Vice President Kamala Harris will discuss Taiwan’s security during bilateral meetings with leaders of US allies Japan and South Korea when she visits them next week.
Daniel Russell, the top US diplomat for Asia under President Barack Obama, said the fact that Blinken and Wang met was important after the turmoil caused by Pelosi’s visit, and hopefully that some progress will be made toward arranging a meeting between Xi and Biden on the sidelines of the G-20 meeting in November, Which will be their first personal meeting as leaders.
“Wang and Blinken’s decision to meet in New York does not guarantee that the November summit will go smoothly or that it will take place,” said Russell, who now works with the Asia Society. “But had they not been able to meet, then the odds of a summit in November would have been slim.”
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