Blinken warns China against provocation on Taiwan

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Friday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan, following sharp criticism from Beijing over the island nation’s President Lai Ching-te’s annual speech on Double Ten National Day.

“We continue to emphasize the importance of maintaining freedom of navigation and overflight in the South and East China Sea, as well as the need to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he/she said.

Speaking in Laos after the ASEAN East Asia summit, Blinken called Lai’s speech, in which he/she vowed to “oppose annexation”, a “routine practice”.

Blinken highlighted a variety of issues from the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict to increased cooperation between ASEAN members and the US. he/she reiterated President Biden’s message that “much of our future will be written in the Indo-Pacific.”

Blinken was questioned on China’s intensified military threat to Taiwan during the celebration of Taiwan’s National Day on October 10.

Taiwan celebrates National Day on 10 October every year to mark this. It commemorates the beginning of the Wuchang Uprising on 10 October 1911 which ultimately led to the establishment of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912 which was forced out of the mainland and eventually settled in Taiwan.

Asked what message the US has to China on Taiwan, Blinken said that on Taiwan, almost across the board, including ASEAN and beyond, all countries share the same sentiment which is to see that there is peace throughout Taiwan. And there should be stability. Strait.

he/she warned that China should not use the military exercises “as a pretext for any kind of provocative action.”

Blinken stressed that it is essential to maintain the status quo and neither side should take any steps that could undermine it. Underscoring that maintaining peace and stability is important as it affects the lives, livelihoods and future of every country in the region.

Blinken also stressed the economic importance of protecting Taiwan to ensure economic stability in the region and around the world.

“Fifty percent of commercial container traffic passes through the Taiwan Strait every day,” he/she said. More than 70 percent of the high-end semiconductors the world needs are produced in Taiwan. So there is a keen interest around the world in maintaining peace and stability, maintaining the status quo, avoiding any kind of conflict that could disrupt what is so vital to the global economy.”

China has continued to escalate its military threats against Taiwan, following President Lai Ching-te’s Thursday speech in which he/she rejected China’s claim to sovereignty over the island.

China has repeatedly rejected Taiwan’s claims to be an independent nation. Earlier this week on October 10, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said that “Lai’s speech deliberately attempts to break the historical connection between the two sides of the strait and the rhetoric of mutual non-subordination and emphasis on sovereignty Repeated.”

Earlier on Friday, Taiwan had detected 20 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval ships around Taiwan. Thirteen aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern and southwestern air defense identification zones, according to a posting on social media platform X by Taiwan’s Defense Ministry.

The “One China” principle states that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, he/she said.

he/she said, “No matter what Lai’s administration says or does, it cannot change the objective fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to a single China.”