taiwan – Michmutters

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Australia

Richard Marles reaffirms Australia’s commitment to the one-China policy and ‘stabilising’ Canberra-Beijing relations

Richard Marles reaffirms Australia's commitment to the one-China policy and 'stabilising' Canberra-Beijing relations

Richards Marles has reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to the one-China policy as Canberra moves towards “stabilizing” its relationship with Beijing.

Speaking with Sky News Australia’s Kieran Gilbert on Sunday, the Defense Minister and acting Prime Minister said Australia’s main motive was to see a “de-escalation of tensions” in the region.

“What we want to see is a return to normal peaceful behavior which underpins that, from Australia’s point of view, is not wanting to see any unilateral change to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.

“That means we have a one-China policy that’s been the status quo in Australian policy, and indeed for the United States and other countries, for a very long period of time.”

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Under Australia’s version of the one-China policy Taiwan is acknowledged as a province of China and is not recognized as its own country, however, the policy allows for unofficial contact including visits from MPs on parliamentary delegations.

Mr Marles said he did not believe Australia’s stance on Taiwan would hinder the repair of bilateral relations between Canberra and Beijing but said he wanted to see the relationship in a “better place”.

“We talk about a stabilizing in the relationship and in doing that we acknowledge there are going to be challenges in the relationship with China,” he said.

“What we have sought to do is really change the tone in the way in which we are engaging with the world but that includes the way in which we engage with China.

“We’re not going about things with chest beating we are really trying to speak with a considered voice in a manner which is professional, which is sober, and which is diplomatic.”

Beijing ended diplomatic communications with Canberra in January 2020 and slapped sanctions on barley, beef, wine and other goods after then-prime minister Scott Morrison called for an inquiry into the emergence of COVID-19.

He said the Albanese government’s approach would be “professional” and “respectful” in its approach without compromising Australia’s national interest.

“We want to engage professionally and respectfully but we will absolutely be articulating our national interest,” he said.

“There are going to be challenges going forward at the same time we acknowledge they’re our largest trading partner and we value a productive relationship with China.

“We do want to see our relationship in a better place but we’ll continue to articulate our national interest and we’ll see how far down this road we can walk.”

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Categories
Australia

Peter Dutton ‘very strongly supports’ Richard Marles’ language used about nuclear submarines as he warns of Taiwan invasion

Peter Dutton 'very strongly supports' Richard Marles' language used about nuclear submarines as he warns of Taiwan invasion

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has stressed the importance of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines as soon as possible after the Chinese Ambassador to Australia delivered his first National Press Club speech this week.

Xiao Qian – who became Beijing’s top diplomat in Canberra this year – had defended China’s actions when it responded with live military drills in Taiwan following the historic visit from United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi last week.

He warned Australia to handle the messaging around Taiwan “with caution” and added there was “no room for compromise” as China sees the island as its own territory.

Mr Xiao also threatened Beijing would take Taipei with force and would be “ready to use all necessary measures” to restore the liberal democracy “to the motherland”.

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Mr Dutton said he was not “shocked” by the remarks from the ambassador as the messaging was similar to what was delivered by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

But he agreed it was alarming to hear the comments being made on Australian shores before he flagged it would be no “surprise” if China invaded the island.

“I don’t think anyone would be surprised if there was an incursion into Taiwan,” he told ABC’s 7:30 on Thursday.

The Opposition Leader then stressed the importance of having a “deterrence in place”, in the form of nuclear submarines, to ward off a potential future attack.

“China is clear that their center of humiliation doesn’t come to an end until there is a re-unification, in their words, so it is important for us to have deterrence in place because any adversary should know that a strike on Australia would ‘t be accepted,” he said.

“And there would be retaliation and also weed need to be close and fight with our allies, not just America, but India and Japan.”

While Australia’s national security would be secure under the AUKUS alliance with the US and United Kingdom for the next five to six decades, he warned the nation needed nuclear-powered submarines to plug the capability gap.

He also came to the support of Defense Minister Richard Marles who insisted this week it is the government’s “top priority” to fill the gap left by the Collins fleet of boats.

“Yes, I very strongly support Richard Marles,” he said.

“He is adopting similar language that I used not too long ago to say if we can get those submarines off the production line, then we should certainly strongly believe that that is possible and that’s the course of action that the government should be pursuing. “

Mr Dutton also welcomed the response from Mr Marles, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese who have all called for a de-escalation of tensions in the Taiwan region but believes the messaging can be stronger.

“I believe very strongly that we are better to speak frankly about China’s intent – they’re clear about it themselves, as we have discussed, and it is important for Australians to hear that message,” he said.

Mr Marles is set to make a decision by March 2023 on whether Australia will go with acquiring eight US Virginia-class or British Astute-class built submarines.

The government is expected to decide then whether Australia will need interim, conventionally powered submarines before the AUKUS vessels are ready to hit the water, which may not be for another 20 years around the 2040s.

Mr Marles said this week he would like to see the new boats constructed in Australia as part of a beefing up of its domestic defense manufacturing ability.

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Categories
Australia

China labeled Australia’s biggest national security threat on Q+A as tough talk on Taiwan draws passionate response

China labeled Australia's biggest national security threat on Q+A as tough talk on Taiwan draws passionate response

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been labeled the biggest threat to Australia’s national security on Q+A, with panellists from both the government and opposition sharing their concerns about China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait and subsequent comments by the Chinese ambassador to Australia.

In the past week, China has conducted military drills in the Taiwan Strait, repeatedly crossing its median line by air and sea and launching missiles that went over Taiwan and landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Those actions came after the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan, which China claims to be a state within its territory.

On Thursday night, Q+A audience member Li Shee Shu suggested to the panel that China should not be seen as Australia’s greatest threat.

Liberal Senator James Paterson pounced.

“The reason why the Chinese Communist Party is labeled as the biggest national security threat to Australia is because they are,” Senator Paterson said.

“Right now, today, we are under a near-constant attack in the cyber realm from the Chinese Communist Party, whether it is the government or our critical infrastructure.

“Over the past five years, we have suffered record levels of foreign interference and espionage and the Chinese government is the primary culprit of that.

“Right now, the Chinese government is acquiring military capability at the fastest pace of any nation in the world since World War II and, I think, the evidence shows they’re not just doing that for the fun of it.

“They have reclaimed islands in the South China Sea, illegally, although Xi Jinping promised that he wouldn’t.

“They have just fired ballistic missiles over Taiwan into Japan’s EEZ. If we are not going to take this threat very seriously, we are going to regret it.”

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His comments were echoed by Minister for International Development and the Pacific Pat Conroy, who took a softer stance but said China’s actions in recent times were a cause for concern.

“The Australian government’s position is that we support no unilateral change to the status quo,” Mr Conroy said.

“As a middle power, it’s in Australia’s interest to pursue a rules-based order where every nation observes and follows international laws and normals,” he said.

“And to James’s point, illegal island-building in the East and South China Seas challenges that rules-based order.”

CCP has repeatedly shown us who they are, Paterson says

Mr Conroy, who earlier called for a de-escalation of tensions in the Asia-Pacific region, said he was concerned by the Chinese ambassador’s comments about Taiwan on Wednesday.

The ambassador, Xiao Qian, stressed at the National Press Club that there was “no room for compromise” on Taiwan and China would use “all necessary means” for reunification with the island.

“In the interests of everyone in the region, de-escalation needs to occur now,” Mr Conroy said.

“We need restraint and we need to focus on a peaceful and prosperous region.

“I was concerned, like many people, by some of the language used by the ambassador [on Wednesday]but we just have to move past it.”

However, for Senator Paterson, those comments seemed to be folly.

He indicated he did not believe China’s actions in the past week were simply muscle flexing ahead of the CCP’s 20th annual party congress, but rather part of a long-established pattern.

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“The late American poet Maya Angelou had a wonderful phrase that when people show you who they are, believe them the first time,” he said.

“The Chinese Communist Party has not just shown us once who they are, they’ve shown us who they are in Tibet, they’ve shown us who they are in Xinjiang, they’ve shown us who they are with Hong Kong and they are showing us again who they are with Taiwan.

“And the ambassador at the Press Club yesterday showed us who they are and we should believe him.

“They are very serious when they say all options are on the table and that we should use our imagination to think about what they might do.

“And we should believe them when they say that re-education of the 23 million free people of Taiwan is something that they have planned for, after taking Taiwan, and we should treat that very seriously.”

Chinese Australian population stigmatized

Q+A audience member, teenager Jun Gao, said raised concerns about how Beijing’s actions were affecting the treatment of Chinese Australians.

He said he and others had faced discrimination during the pandemic and it was happening again now due to rising tensions with China.

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“I’ve felt the effects of the tumultuous COVID-19 pandemic and now rising tensions within the South China Sea,” he said.

“What can be done to destigmatize the Chinese Australian population?”

“In general, I feel there is about negative perception, both in the schoolyard and [the] media, and I fear that Chinese recent political actions will only compound this,” Gao added.

Panel member and Lowy Institute research fellow Jennifer Hsu said studies had seen a rise in that sentiment.

“We found in this year’s survey that generally Chinese Australians feel a sense of belonging, although that has decreased since 2020,” Ms Hsu said.

“[There is] a general sense of belonging, pride in Australian life and culture — and I think these are all positive indicators of, you know, Chinese-Australians’ contribution and integration into Australian society … but, yes, I would agree with you that, over the last two years… the sense of fragmentation has happened, in part due to discrimination and racism.

“But I would say there [are] potential positive points to look forward to, with a new government in power. there [are] signs of thawing [relations] between Australia and China.”

Senator Paterson condemned the discrimination Gao’s had faced and called for Australians to understand the difference between a political stoush with the CCP and anything to do with Australians of Chinese heritage.

“Thank you for raising this issue, you are absolutely right to,” he told Gao.

“It is both morally wrong and counterproductive for Chinese Australians to be held guilty for the actions of the Chinese government.

“It is also wrong to hold the Chinese people guilty for the actions of the Chinese government because they had no say in picking that government, there was no vote that brought the Chinese Communist Party to power.

“It is morally wrong because it is not your fault and it is counterproductive because we want Chinese Australians to feel just as much a part of the Australian community as everyone else and to be able to fully participate in that community.”

Watch the full episode of Q+A on ABC iview

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Categories
US

China appears to wind down threatening wargames near Taiwan

China appears to wind down threatening wargames near Taiwan

BEIJING (AP) — China on Wednesday repeated military threats against Taiwan while appearing to wind down wargames near the self-governing island it claims as its own territory that have raised tensions between the two sides to their highest level in years.

The message in a lengthy policy statement issued by the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office and its news department followed almost a week of missile firings and incursions into Taiwanese waters and airspace by Chinese warships and air force plans.

The actions disrupted flights and shipping in a region crucial to global supply chains, prompting strong condemnation from the US, Japan and others.

An English-language version of the Chinese statement said Beijing would “work with the greatest sincerity and exert our utmost efforts to achieve peaceful reunification.”

“But we will not renounce the use of force, and we reserve the option of taking all necessary measures. This is to guard against external interference and all separatist activities,” it said.

“We will always be ready to respond with the use of force or other necessary means to interference by external forces or radical action by separatist elements. Our ultimate goal is to ensure the prospects of China’s peaceful reunification and advance this process,” it said.

China says its threatening moves were prompted by a visit to Taiwan last week by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, but Taiwan says such visits are routine and that China used her trip merely as a pretext to up its threats.

In an additional response to Pelosi’s visit, China said it was cutting off dialogue on issues from maritime security to climate change with the US, Taiwan’s chief military and political backer.

Taiwan’s foreign minister warned Tuesday that the Chinese military drills reflect ambitions to control large swaths of the western Pacific, while Taipei conducted its own exercises to underscore its readiness to defend itself.

Beijing’s strategy would include controlling the East and South China seas via the Taiwan Strait and imposing a blockade to prevent the US and its allies from aiding Taiwan in the event of an attack, Joseph Wu told a news conference in Taipei.

Beijing extended the ongoing exercises without announcing when they would end, although they appeared to have run their course for the time being.

China’s Defense Ministry and its Eastern Theater Command both issued statements saying the exercises had achieved their targets of sending a warning to those favoring Taiwan’s formal independence and their foreign backers.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and her Democratic Progressive Party administration are “pushing Taiwan into the abyss of disaster and sooner or later will be nailed to the pillar of historical shame!” Defense Ministry spokesperson Col. Tan Kefei was quoted as saying in a statement on the ministry’s website.

Troops taking part in the exercises had “effectively tested integrated joint combat capabilities,” the Eastern Theater Command said on its Twitter-like Weixin microblog.

“The theater troops will monitor changes in the situation in the Taiwan Strait, continue to conduct military training and preparations, organize regular combat readiness patrols in the Taiwan Strait, and resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” spokesperson Col. Shi Yi was quoted as saying.

Taiwan split with the mainland amid civil war in 1949, and its 23 million people overwhelmingly oppose political unification with China while preferring to maintain close economic links and de facto independence.

Through its maneuvers, China has pushed closer to Taiwan’s borders and may be seeking to establish a new normal in which it could eventually control access to the island’s ports and airspace.

Along with lobbing missiles into the Taiwan Straitthe nearly week-long drills saw Chinese ships and planes crossing the center line in the strait that has long been seen as a buffer against outright conflict.

The US, Taipei’s main backer, has also shown itself to be willing to face down China’s threats. Washington has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in deference to Beijing, but is legally bound to ensure the island can defend itself and to treat all threats against it as matters of grave concern.

That leaves open the question of whether Washington would dispatch forces if China attacked Taiwan. US President Joe Biden has said repeatedly the US is bound to do so — but staff members have quickly walked back those comments.

Beyond the geopolitical risks, an extended crisis in the Taiwan Strait — a significant thoroughfare for global trade — could have major implications for international supply chains at a time when the world is already facing disruptions and uncertainty in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

In particular, Taiwan is a crucial provider of computer chips for the global economy, including China’s high-tech sector.

In response to the drills, Taiwan has put its forces on alert, but has so far refrained from taking active countermeasures.

On Tuesday, its military held live-fire artillery drills in Pingtung County on its southeastern coast.

Australia’s recent change of government is a chance to “reset” its troubled relationship with China, but the new administration must “handle the Taiwan question with caution,” a Chinese shipment said Wednesday.

China has brushed aside foreign criticism of its actions, and its ambassador to Australia said he was “surprised” that Australia had signed a statement with the United States and Japan that condemned China’s firing of missiles into Japanese waters in response to Pelosi’s visit.

Xiao Qian told the National Press Club that China wanted to resolve the situation peacefully, but “we can never rule out the option to use other means.”

“So when necessary, when compelled, we are ready to use all necessary means,” Xiao said. “As to what does it mean by ‘all necessary means?’ You can use your imagination.”

In London, the British government summoned Chinese Ambassador Zheng Zeguang to the Foreign Office on Wednesday to demand an explanation of ”Beijing’s aggressive and wide-ranging escalation against Taiwan” following Pelosi’s visit.

“We have seen increasingly aggressive behavior and rhetoric from Beijing in recent months, which threaten peace and stability in the region,” said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. “The United Kingdom urges China to resolve any differences by peaceful means, without the threat or use of force or coercion.”

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Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.

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Categories
US

China’s trade curbs on Taiwan after Pelosi visit are drop in the ocean

China's trade curbs on Taiwan after Pelosi visit are drop in the ocean

Beijing’s new trade blocks against Taiwan affect about 0.04% of their two-way trade, making them more political than economic.

Beijing took action against Taiwan following US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island earlier this month despite warnings from Beijing. That included suspensions of imports of Taiwanese citrus, frozen fish, sweets and biscuits and exports of natural sands to Taiwan.

Taiwan is a self-ruled democracy, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory and a breakaway province. China says Taiwan has no right to conduct foreign relations and warned for weeks against Pelosi’s visit.

What trade numbers show

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, after arriving at the president’s office on August 3, 2022, in Taipei, Taiwan. Pelosi’s visit infuriated China, which regards the self-ruled island as its own and responded with test launches of ballistic missiles over Taipei for the first time, as well as ditching some lines of dialogue with Washington.

Handout | Getty ImagesNews | Getty Images

When it comes to Taiwan’s imports from mainland China, more than half of the $82 billion traded in 2021 were electrical machinery, electronic and technological parts as well as nuclear reactors and boilers.

As for Taiwan’s exports to China, 65% of them were also similar goods in electrical machinery, electronic and technological parts.

Drop in the ocean

On the other hand, the volume of trade in areas that Beijing has targeted is relatively small.

Exports of natural sand to Taiwan — which Beijing has targeted — were a drop in the ocean against the above figures. They amounted to about $3.5 million last year, data from the Taiwanese trade bureau showed.

They were also a small trade compared with natural sand exports from Australia and Vietnam, the biggest suppliers of natural sand to Taiwan last year. Together, they supplied about $64 million of the raw material used in construction and other industries, making up 70% of Taiwan’s purchases, according to its trade bureau.

Similarly, the targeted trade of citrus was valued at a relatively small $10 million last year, though mainland China was also Taiwan’s biggest citrus buyer, Taiwan’s trade data showed.

The agricultural products now in the headlines are only a fraction of Taiwan’s export basket. And so the headline impact on Taiwan won’t really be noticeable.

Nick Brown

Economist Intelligence Unit

Other targets such as Taiwan’s exports of bread, pastry, cakes and biscuits to mainland China were worth more than $50 million in total last year.

Beijing’s specific suspension of two kinds of frozen fishes, horse mackerel and largehead hairtail, were valued at over $3 million in 2021, according to Taiwan’s trade bureau.

“China’s economic retaliation against Taiwan is a long-standing strategy in its diplomatic playbook. That said, its decision to target relatively low-value trade items reflects the limits of its economic pressure toolbox,” said global trade lead analyst at the Economist Intelligence Unit , Nick Marro.

“It’s already had restrictions on Chinese visitors to Taiwan in place for a few years, which carry more economic significance; the agricultural products now in the headlines are only a fraction of Taiwan’s export basket. And so the headline impact on Taiwan won’t really be noticeable.”

Precedents

Beijing’s trade suspensions against Taiwan are not a new phenomenon.

In previous years, tensions between the two have led to bans on mainland travelers to Taiwan.

Last year, China suspended imports of Taiwanese pineapples, citing quarantine measures over “harmful creatures” that came with the fruit. China was Taiwan’s biggest pineapple buyer up to that point.

Investment bank Natixis said that the recent Chinese trade restrictions focused on “highly replaceable food products” but not the information and communications technology sector in which the two trading partners have the most trade.

The bank also said mainland China will continue to import from Taiwan as long as it needs the goods, similar to what it has done in other trade conflicts such as the one it has with Australia and the United States.

In the China-Australia trade dispute that started in 2020, China restricted the purchase of some goods such as barley and coal but continued to buy iron ore from Australia, a key ingredient for China’s steel production and the bedrock of the countries’ trade.

There may also be other fallouts from the Pelosi visit that could hurt wider regional trade. For example, heightened military drills in the Taiwan Strait may delay shipments, analysts say.

“The shutting down of these transport routes — even temporarily — has consequences not only for Taiwan, but also trade flows tied to Japan and South Korea,” Marro said.

“It’s not just a story for Taiwan and China, but also for their neighbors, as well.”

Analysis by logistics platform Container xChange said any rerouting of shipping lines to avoid military exercises may be problematic for the trading world as it enters peak shipping season.

Container xChange Chief Executive Christian Roeloffs said, however, that supply chains have become far more resilient over the course of the pandemic.

Customer feedback shows any rerouting of vessels away from the Taiwan Strait will add a few days to ship voyages, though Roeloffs does not anticipate a massive hit to logistics costs.

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Categories
Australia

The most revealing moments of Xiao Qian’s Press Club address make clear why Australia’s relationship with China is so strained

A close up on Xiao Qian.

It’s 18 years since a Chinese ambassador last took up an invitation to appear at the National Press Club in Canberra. That was five ambassadors ago.

Two years ago, the deputy head of mission, Wang Xining, turned up to spar with Australian journalists. He was combative but could also make his point from him by quoting Shakespeare, and rarely went beyond the official party line. After all, he wasn’t Beijing’s top diplomat in town.

It’s a long time since China’s most authoritative voice in Canberra had agreed to front the press. Until yesterday.

Ambassador Xiao Qian didn’t come with poetic quotes or clever lines that could be interpreted one way or another. This was raw and revealing.

In his prepared remarks, Xiao made a token effort to encourage further progress in repairing ties.

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There were references to how “friendly” relations had been over the past 50 years. There were reminders of how much trade has grown (and how relevant Australia has become on China economically).

Once the questions began, however, it became very clear just how uncompromising China would be on the core issues causing such difficulty in the relationship, particularly the big one — Taiwan.

Hope for change… and a reality check

The change of government in Australia raised some hope of a relationship reset. The two countries’ defense ministers met, followed by the foreign ministers. This was more dialogue than had occurred in years.

Then came Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan and a reality check.

China’s extraordinary military reaction, involving ballistic missiles, fighter jets and warships, prompted condemnation from the United States, Japan, Australia and others. This, in turn, prompted condemnation from Beijing, urging everyone to butt out of its “internal” affairs.

Taiwanese Pelosi
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen during a trip to the island last week.(Taiwan Presidential Office)

At the Press Club podium in Canberra, Xiao defended the show of military might, saying Pelosi’s visit had “compelled” China to respond.

He suggested the people of Taiwan wanted reunification with China, ignoring numerous opinion polls which he said were “misleading”. Fake news, as Donald Trump might say.

China would use “all necessary means” to bring Taiwan back to the fold and “you can use your imagination” as to what that might involve. Of course, no-one really needs to use their imagination, after the military display of the past week.

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Categories
Australia

Live updates: China’s ambassador to Australia to address National Press Club

Live updates: China's ambassador to Australia to address National Press Club

Here’s Will Jackson with the details.

The relationship between Australia and China has been battered by a series of acrimonious disputes over the last two years. But since Work won the election in May both countries have taken tentative steps towards stabilizing the relationship.

Both the Foreign Minister Penny Wong and the Defense Minister Richard Marles have held a one-on-one meetings with their Chinese counterparts, ending a two-year high level diplomatic freeze between Canberra and beijing.

But there are still structural barriers to serious improvement.

(ABCNews)

Australia remains deeply concerned about a raft of issues from China’s treatment of Uyghurs in the Xinjiang regionto the imprisonment of Australian journalist ChengLeirepression of rights and free speech in Hong Kong and Beijing’s moves to increase its influence in the Pacific.

And the recent taiwan crises have you seen China once again step up its verbal attacks on Australia, after the federal government raised concerns about Beijing’s military drills in the wake of the Nancy Pelosi visit to the island.

All of which should make for an interesting Q&A session at the end of Mr Xiao’s talk.

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Categories
Australia

China’s constant criticism amid Taiwan tensions cannot be avoided, acting PM says

A sad man in a suit walks down a hall

The acting Prime Minister insists there is little the federal government can do to ward off constant Chinese criticism of Australia, as Beijing lashes out against international condemnation of its military drills in the Taiwan Strait.

Australia has joined with other nations to condemn Beijing’s decision to extend military drills around Taiwan, triggered by a visit to the island from United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Chinese officials said condemnation by Australia was undermining regional peace and stability, and amounted to meddling in its affairs.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles dismissed that accusation and said it was up to China whether relations with Australia thawed or deteriorated again.

“If engaging in a more respectful, diplomatic way takes us some way down a path, it does — and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” Mr Marles said.

“We can only control our end of this equation. But we will always be speaking up for the national interest.”

Taiwan has been preparing air raid shelters and conducting drills as Chinese military air and naval combat exercises have increased around the island.

Taiwan thanks ‘courageous’ nations stepping up to China

In a briefing to media yesterday, Taiwan’s Foreign Minister, Joseph Wu, expressed his gratitude to the nations that had supported his country.

“Taiwan is grateful to all of its friends around the world who have stood up courageously to condemn China’s actions and to support Taiwan,” Mr Wu said.

“It also sends a clear message to the world that democracy will not bow to the intimidation of authoritarianism.”

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Categories
US

Taiwan warns China drills show ambitions beyond island

Taiwan warns China drills show ambitions beyond island

PINGTUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan warned Tuesday that Chinese military drills aren’t just a rehearsal for an invasion of the self-governing island but also reflect ambitions to control large swaths of the western Pacific, as Taipei conducted its own exercises to underscore it’s ready to defend itself.

Angered by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s recent visit to Taiwan, China has sent military ships and plans across the midline that separates the two sides in the Taiwan Strait and launched missiles into waters surrounding the island. The drills, which began Thursday, have disrupted flights and shipping in one of the busiest zones for global trade.

Ignoring calls to calm tensions, Beijing instead extended the exercises without announcing when they will end.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said that beyond aiming to annex the island democracy, which split with the mainland amid civil war in 1949, China wants to establish its dominance in the western Pacific. That would include controlling of the East and South China Seas via the Taiwan Strait and imposing a blockade to prevent the US and its allies from aiding Taiwan in the event of an attack, he told a news conference in Taipei.

The exercises show China’s “geostrategic ambition beyond Taiwan,” which Beijing claims as its own territory, Wu said.

“China has no right to interfere in or alter” Taiwan’s democracy or its interactions with other nations, he added.

Wu’s assessment of China’s maneuvers was grimmer than that of other observers but echoed widespread concerns that Beijing is seeking to expand its influence in the Pacific, where the US has military bases and extensive treaty partnerships.

China has said its drills were prompted by Pelosi’s visit, but Wu said Beijing was using her trip as a pretext for intimidating moves long in the works. China also banned some Taiwanese food imports after the visit and cut off dialogue with the US on a range of issues from military contacts to combating transnational crime and climate change.

Pelosi also dismissed China’s outrage as a public stunt, noting on NBC’s “Today” show that “nobody said a word” about a Senate delegation a few visit months ago. Later on the MSNBC news network, she said Chinese President Xi Jinping was acting like a “scared bully.”

“I don’t think the president of China should control the schedules of members of Congress,” she said.

Through its maneuvers, China has pushed closer to Taiwan’s borders and may be seeking to establish a new normal in which it could eventually control access to the island’s ports and airspace. But that would likely elicit a strong response from the military on the island, whose people strongly favor the status quo of de-facto independence.

The US, Taipei’s main backer, has also shown itself to be willing to face down Beijing’s threats. Washington has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in deference to Beijing, but is legally bound to ensure the island can defend itself and to treat all threats against it as matters of grave concern.

That leaves open the question of whether Washington would dispatch forces if China attacked Taiwan. US President Joe Biden has repeatedly said the US is bound to do so — but staff members have quickly walked back those comments.

Beyond the geopolitical risks, an extended crisis in the Taiwan Strait, a significant thoroughfare for global trade, could have major implications for international supply chains at a time when the world is already facing disruptions and uncertainty in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In particular, Taiwan is a crucial provider of computer chips for the global economy, including China’s high-tech sectors.

In response to the drills, Taiwan has put its forces on alert, but has so far refrained from taking active counter measures.

On Tuesday, its military held live-fire artillery drills in Pingtung County on its southeastern coast.

The army will continue to train and accumulate strength to deal with the threat from China, said Maj. Gen. Lou Woei-jye, spokesperson for Taiwan’s 8th Army Command. “No matter what the situation is… this is the best way to defend our country.”

Taiwan, once a Japanese colony, had only loose connections to imperial China and then split with the mainland in 1949. Despite never having governed the island, China’s ruling Communist Party regards it as its own territory and has sought to isolate it diplomatically and economically in addition to ratcheting up military threats.

Washington has insisted Pelosi’s visit did not change its “one China policy,” which holds that the United States has no position on the status of the two sides but wants their dispute settled peacefully.

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Associated Press writer Ashraf Khalil in Washington contributed to this report.

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Categories
US

Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

Sam Yeh | AFP | Getty Images

Taiwan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that China was using the military drills it launched in protest against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit as a game-plan to prepare for an invasion of the
self-ruled island.

Joseph Wu, speaking at a press conference in Taipei, offered no timetable for a possible invasion of Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its own.

He said Taiwan would not be intimidated even as the drills continued with China often breaching the unofficial median line down the Taiwan Strait.

“China has used the drills in its military play-book to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” Wu said.

“It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation, and economic coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.

“After the drills conclude, China may try to routinize its action in an attempt to wreck the long-term status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said.

Such moves threatened regional security and provided “a clear image of China’s geostrategic ambitions beyond Taiwan”, Wu said, urging greater international support to stop China effectively controlling the strait.

A Pentagon official said on Monday that Washington was sticking to its assessment that China would not try to invade Taiwan for the next two years.

Wu spoke as military tensions simmer after the scheduled end on Sunday of four days of the largest-ever Chinese exercises surrounding the island – drills that included ballistic missile launches and simulated sea and air attacks in the skies and seas surrounding Taiwan.

China’s Eastern Theater Command announced on Monday that it would conduct fresh joint drills focusing on anti-submarine and sea assault operations – confirming the fears of some security analysts and diplomats that Beijing would keep up the pressure on Taiwan’s defences.

On Tuesday, the command said it continued to hold military drills and exercises in the seas and airspace around Taiwan, with a focus on blockades and resupply logistics.

A person familiar with security planning in the areas around Taiwan described to Reuters on Tuesday a continuing “standoff” around the median line involving about 10 warships each from China and Taiwan.

“China continued to try to press in to the median line,” the person said.

“Taiwan forces there have been trying to keep the international waterways open.”

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that China’s continued military exercises “highlight that its threat of force has not decreased.”

As Pelosi left the region last Friday, China also ditched some lines of communication with the United States, including theater level military talks and discussions on climate change.

Taiwan started its own long-scheduled drills on Tuesday, firing howitzer artillery out to sea in the southern county of Pingtung, attracting a small crowd of curious onlookers to a nearby beach.

US President Joe Biden, in his first public comments on the issue since Pelosi’s visit, said on Monday he was concerned about China’s actions in the region but he was not worried about Taiwan.

“I’m concerned they are moving as much as they are,” Biden told reporters in Delaware, referring to China. “But I don’t think they’re going to do anything more than they are.”

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl also said the US military would continue to carry out voyages through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks.

China has never ruled out taking Taiwan by force and on Monday Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China was conducting normal military exercises “in our waters” in an open, transparent and professional way, adding Taiwan was part of China.

Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future.

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