China’s FM Tells Blinken the US Is
Sending ‘Dangerous Signals’ Over Taiwan
Dave DeCamp / AntiiWar.com
(September 25, 2022) — Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Friday that the US is sending “very wrong, dangerous signals” on the issue of Taiwan.
The conversation between the two diplomats was focused on Taiwan and came after President Biden said the US would defend the island in the event of a Chinese attack, marking the fourth time he’s made the pledge as president.
The Biden administration insists US policy over Taiwan hasn’t changed, but Biden’s comments go against the long-standing policy of strategic ambiguity for the island.
According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Wang told Blinken that China views Biden’s recent comments as the US moving away from the commitments it made when normalizing Beijing, which involved Washington severing diplomatic ties with Taipei in 1979.
Wang said that the US must “clearly reaffirm its commitment to the one-China policy, and unequivocally state its opposition to any ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activity.” He added that the more rampant Taiwan’s “separatist activities are,” the less likely “peaceful reunification” is possible.
The following day, Wang addressed the General Assembly in New York and said “external interference” over Taiwan wouldn’t be tolerated. “Only when China is fully reunified can there be true peace across the Taiwan Strait,” he said, adding that anyone who opposes this policy will be “crushed by the wheels of history.”
Amid the heightened tensions over Taiwan, Vice President Kamala Harris is traveling to Asia, where she will attend the funeral of Shinzo Abe, the former prime minister of Japan who was assassinated in July. While in the region, Harris will meet with Japanese officials in Tokyo and with South Korean officials in Seoul, and Taiwan’s security is expected to be on the agenda.
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