TAIPEI, May 15 (Reuters) – Taiwan thanked the U.S. on Friday for expressing its support and commitment to peace and stability and for reaffirming its Taiwan policy has not changed, ahead of the second day of President Donald Trump’s state visit to China.
The U.S. is Chinese-claimed Taiwan’s most important international backer and is bound by law to provide it with the means to defend itself. China has demanded such arms sales stop.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday confirmed the issue of democratically governed Taiwan had come up in Trump’s talks with President Xi Jinping but that U.S. policy towards the island is unchanged.
In a statement released by his ministry, Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung thanked the U.S. for repeatedly expressing its support for and emphasis on peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and for reaffirming its Taiwan policy has not changed.
The ministry added that China’s military continues to operate around Taiwan carrying out “harassment and intimidation”.
This “demonstrates that Beijing is a major risk to current regional peace and stability,” it said.
CHINA WARNING OVER TAIWAN
Xi told Trump on Thursday that mishandling the countries’ disagreements over Taiwan could push China-U.S. relations to a “dangerous place”.
Rubio told NBC that it would be a “terrible mistake” for China to use force over Taiwan.
Responding on his X account to Rubio late that same day, Joseph Wu, secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, agreed with that sentiment.
“We’re determined to defend the status quo & deter aggression,” Wu wrote.
China’s daily military activities around Taiwan have not ceased.
On Friday morning, in its daily update on Chinese deployments in the previous 24 hours, Taiwan’s defence ministry said there were seven warships present, though no aircraft.
A senior Taiwan security official said Taiwan shared the same interests as the U.S. and other parties in the Indo-Pacific.
“The first island chain is particularly crucial to peace and stability in the Western Pacific and the Indo-Pacific, and at the core of this is Taiwan,” added the official referring to an area stretching from Japan through Taiwan and the Philippines.
Next Wednesday marks two years since Taiwan President Lai Ching-te took office and Taipei is closely monitoring whether China will escalate its military deployments in the region after the Trump-Xi summit and around Lai’s anniversary, the official said.
China’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China staged its last major war games around Taiwan in late December.
Trump leaves for home Friday afternoon after having tea and lunch with Xi.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong, Stephen Coates and Kate Mayberry)
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