China watching Ukraine situation, learning from it: US commander on Taiwan issue
Apr 05, 2022
Washington [US], April 6 : As the Russia-Ukraine war continues, a senior US commander stated that Washington must remain vigilant on the Taiwan issue as China is increasing its capabilities and making adjustments to its plans to forcefully unite the island nation.
"China is undoubtedly watching what's happened in Ukraine, taking notes, and learning from it," said U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Samuel J Paparo.
"And there will be learning and there will be adjustments to the extent that they're able to learn from it. And they will improve their capabilities based on what they learn at this time," said Paparo during a roundtable discussion with Washington-based correspondents from Indo-Pacific countries.
Paparo said that there were many factors involved in what decisions China would make, Taiwan Focus reported.
Therefore, he would be loath to say or to do anything that would relieve the urgency to prepare, to uphold the international rules-based order and to uphold the U.S.' commitment for the defence of Taiwan, if there were an effort to unify Taiwan by force, Paparo said.
These remarks come at a time when tensions between China and Taiwan are heightened. The relations between China and the US have also deteriorated in recent issues concerning human rights, coronavirus pandemic and trade.
China continues to regard Taiwan as a breakaway province and has vowed to reunite it by using force. Taiwan is combatting Chinese aggression by enhancing cooperation with democracies like the United States.
This February, the United States had approved a USD 100 million sales of equipment and services to Taiwan to "sustain" and "improve" the Patriot missile defence system used by the self-governing island.
The Chinese Defence Ministry warned the US against selling arms to Taiwan, saying that this act constitutes a blatant interference in China's internal affairs, which Beijing strongly condemns.
"US arms sales to Taiwan severely infringe on the 'One China' principle and three joint US-China communiques... This represents a flagrant interference in China's internal affairs and undermines China's sovereignty and security interests," the Chinese Defense Ministry Spokesperson had said.
