Tammy Duckworth
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth reiterated U.S. support for Taiwan during his second visit in a year to the self-governing island claimed by China.
Duckworth emphasized the close economic, political and security ties between Taipei and Washington during a May 31 meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.
China dispatched 30 military aircraft to the island on May 30 and is conducting regular flight activities. Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said it responded by emergency jets, putting air defense missile systems on alert and issuing radio warnings.
Duckworth said she wanted to “underline our support for Taiwan’s security.” The former Army helicopter pilot and National Guard lieutenant colonel said her bill to promote cooperation between Taiwan’s armed forces and the National Guard has strong bipartisan support.
“I do want to say that it’s not just about the military. It’s also about the economy,” the Illinois Democrat told Tsai.
Tsai Ing-wen thanked the U.S. government and Congress for “the importance attached to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” and Duckworth himself for “paying close attention to Taiwan-related security issues.”
China strongly condemns Duckworth’s visit.
“Taiwan is a province of China and there is no so-called president,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. He urged the United States to end all official contacts with Taiwan.
“The U.S. government has recently sent a series of wrong signals on the Taiwan issue,” he said. “What the U.S. government should do is to put into practice President Biden’s remarks that the United States does not seek a new Cold War with China, does not change the Chinese system, and does not support Taiwan independence.”
U.S. President Joe Biden said during a recent visit to Japan and South Korea that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China invaded Taiwan.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought China’s threat to Taiwan into new focus, prompting increased Democratic and Republican support for arms sales and political support.
China upped the ante even further in May, presenting the Solomon Islands and nine other island nations with a comprehensive security proposal that, if only partially fulfilled, would allow it to occupy the Pacific region closer to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and more. A seat on the doorstep of the US strategic territory of Guam.
This is seen as a potential way to prevent the United States and its allies from entering Taiwan if China follows through on its threat to invade Taiwan.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a May 26 speech that President Joe Biden’s administration aims to lead a broader coalition of international blocs opposed to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in response to what it sees as a more serious threat to the global order. , The longer-term threat comes from China. He did say that the US does not support Taiwan independence.
While the relationship with Taiwan is informal, subservient to Beijing, the United States remains its main supplier of defensive weapons and a source of political support in international organizations that China blocks Taiwan’s participation in.
