Peace over Taiwan “critical,” Blinken tells China’s Wang amid tension
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday told his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi that preserving peace and stability over Taiwan is “critical” to regional and global security amid growing tensions over the self-ruled democratic island.
But there were no signs of the two sides ironing out their differences over Taiwan, with Wang warning that the United States is sending “a very wrong and dangerous signal” to the island, which Beijing views as its own, by publicly claiming it is ready to defend the territory.
During the nearly 90-minute talks, held on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Blinken also stressed the need to maintain open lines of communication to “responsibly manage” the competition between the United States and China, according to a senior U.S. government official.
China reacted by holding large-scale military drills near Taiwan and by suspending exchanges with the United States in areas including talks on climate change. The military activities also included repeated crossings by Chinese navy vessels and warplanes of the median line between the mainland and Taiwan, a boundary that has been respected by both sides for decades.
U.S. President Joe Biden, meanwhile, asserted that U.S. forces would defend Taiwan if it is attacked by China, in what seems a shift from Washington’s long-standing policy to keep its stance on the issue ambiguous.
Wang said China-U.S. relations are at a “critical juncture,” and that it is imperative for the two sides to “adopt the right approach to getting along between the two major countries, and to work to stop bilateral ties from further deterioration.”
“The Taiwan question is at the core of China’s core interests, and it carries significant weight in the minds of the Chinese people,” Wang was quoted as saying.
Blinken, for his part, made “very clear” to Wang that there has been no change to the United States’ one-China policy, under which Washington recognizes Beijing as the sole legal government of China, but that the policy includes “opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo by either side,” the senior U.S. official said.
The official noted that China has taken “a number of provocative steps that have by design acted to change the status quo” following the Taiwan trip by Pelosi, the third-highest-ranking U.S. official.
While such concerns are driving much of the U.S. approach on the Taiwan issue, China has “a very different view, obviously,” the official added.
It was not immediately clear whether any progress was made toward arranging a possible meeting between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which, if realized, would be the first in-person summit between the two since Biden took office in January last year.
During talks with Wang, Blinken reiterated the United States’ condemnation of Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine and warned of the “implications” if China were to provide support to Moscow in its war efforts.
The top U.S. diplomat, meanwhile, underscored that the United States remains open to cooperating with China “where our interests intersect,” possibly indicating areas such as climate change, the official said.
Biden said the United States is not encouraging Taiwan to become independent, while also saying that “Taiwan makes their own judgments about their independence,” adding “that’s their decision.”