#boost #trade #Taiwan #carry #air #sea #transits
The United States will boost trade with Taiwan in response to China’s “provocative” behavior, the White House said on Friday, as it insisted on air and sea passage rights through the strained strait.
A new trade plan will be unveiled within days as US forces cross the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks, said Kurt Campbell, White House coordinator for Asia-Pacific affairs and adviser to President Joe Biden.
The statement came after Beijing fumed last week over the trip of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who launched her biggest-ever military drills around the self-governing island.
Taiwan has accused China of using the visit of Pelosi, the most senior US elected official in decades, as a pretext to launch exercises Taipei has described as a rehearsal for an invasion.
China regards Taiwan as its own territory, to be conquered one day, if necessary by force.
Campbell said Pelosi’s visit was “consistent” with Washington’s existing policies and that China had “overreacted”.
Beijing used the pretext to launch “an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan to try to change the status quo, thereby endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the wider region,” he said.
“China has overreacted and its actions continue to be provocative, destabilizing and unprecedented.”
In response to China’s drills, the United States is reaffirming its commitment to the region while reaffirming its policy of “strategic ambiguity” – diplomatically recognizing China while supporting Taiwan’s self-government.
– “Ambitious Timetable” –
Campbell said the government will “continue to deepen our relationship with Taiwan, including by further expanding our economic and trade ties.”
“For example, we are developing an ambitious roadmap for trade negotiations, which we intend to announce in the coming days,” he said.
Campbell said the United States would also reaffirm its right to use international air and sea space between Taiwan and China.
The U.S. Forces “will continue to fly, sail and operate where international law permits, consistent with our longstanding commitment to the freedom of navigation.”
“This includes conducting standard air and sea transits across the Taiwan Strait over the next few weeks,” he told reporters.
Campbell did not confirm what type of operation would be conducted in support of the maneuvers and said he had no “comments on the nature of our crossings or the timetables across the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry thanked Washington for its “firm support” in a statement Saturday, noting Washington’s “concrete measures to maintain security in the Taiwan Strait and peace in the region.”
Campbell criticized China’s decision to stop working with Washington on issues such as fighting climate change, saying “we have and will keep lines of communication open with Beijing.”
The official noted that Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping have asked staffers to set up an in-person summit, but declined to comment on reports that it could take place during the G20 group meeting in Bali in November this year.
“We don’t have any further details about the time and place,” he said.
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