Amid Chinese provocations, Taiwan says will work with US, other partners to promote peace
Oct 08, 2021
Taipei [Taiwan], October 8 : Amid China's provocative military activities in Taiwan Strait, Taiwan said it will keep working with the US and other like-minded partners in promoting peace, security and prosperity in the region.
Appreciating US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan's remarks on US support to Taiwan amid activities that are "fundamentally destabilising", the Foreign Ministry of Taiwan tweeted: "We'll keep working with the U.S. and other like-minded partners in promoting peace, security & prosperity."
The US extended its support to Taiwan with Sullivan saying: "We are going to stand up and speak out". Sullivan made the remarks in an interview to BBC a day after meeting with senior Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi.
On Wednesday, Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng said China might mount a full-scale invasion of the island nation by 2025.
China has sent in recent days almost 150 military aircraft close to Taiwan while the US and other allied forces conducted drills in the South China Sea.
US President Joe Biden on Tuesday said that he and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to abide by the Taiwan agreement, which ensures a peacefully determined future for Taiwan in exchange for US recognition of Beijing as the official Chinese government.
Since mid-September of last year, Beijing has stepped up its grey-zone tactics by regularly sending planes into Taiwan's ADIZ, with most instances occurring in the southwest corner of the zone and usually consisting of one to three slow-flying turboprop planes.
Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war.
On June 1, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to complete reunification with self-ruled Taiwan and vowed to smash any attempts at formal independence for the island.
