Beijing/Taipei: In response to the “provocative” moves of the US side by sending “wrong signals repeatedly” on the Taiwan question, China sent destroyers, frigates, bombers and fighter jets to stage a joint combat-readiness alert patrol involving troops of various services and arms in the East China Sea and waters and airspace surrounding the Taiwan Island today.
Army Senior Colonel Shi Yi, the spokesperson for the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), said today that the People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command troops also held drills on subjects including striking maritime targets, upon the arrival of a senior Congressional delegation from the United States in Taipei.
Shi claimed the “misbehaviour and tricks” of the US side “are very dangerous” and that his troops “always stay on high alert and are determined to defend China’s sovereignty security and regional peace and stability”.
The senior Congressional delegation from the United States led by Senator Lindsey Graham held a meeting with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen today. Graham was critical of China. He condemned the Chinese President Xi Jinping stating that the latter “has aided and abetted the war criminal [Russian President Vladimir] Putin”.
Irrespective of the strong Chinese objection to their visit to Taiwan, which China claims its own territory, Graham told the Taiwanese President Tsai: “…We’re here to show support for what we love. We love freedom. We love the ability to achieve your individual dreams. We love the ability to pick our own leaders. We love the rule of law, and we hate the rule of guns. It is often asked, ‘What would America do if the Communist Chinese Party became more provocative against Taiwan?’ I’m convinced we would stand for what we love. We would stand with you. To abandon Taiwan would be to abandon democracy and freedom. It would be to abandon free trade. It would reward the worst in humanity. As we’re here today to show our support for Taiwan, all of us have our hearts broken regarding the people of Ukraine.”
Graham went on to state that the US was going to start making China pay a greater price for what they’re doing all over the world. “The support for Putin must come with a price. The never-ending cyberattacks on your economy and your people by the Communist Chinese need to come with a price,” he told the Taiwanese President, who on her part, thanked the US Congress for its staunch bipartisan support for Taiwan. She told the delegation that Taiwan looks forward to playing an active role in the new US Indo-Pacific Strategy, working with the US to safeguard regional peace and stability and stimulate further prosperity through economic cooperation and trade in the Indo-Pacific region.
Beijing reacted strongly to the visit and asked the US Congress members to act consistently with the US government’s one-China policy. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian told reporters in Beijing that the US side should abide by the one-China principle and the stipulations of the three China-US joint communiqués, stop official exchanges with Taiwan and avoid making irresponsible remarks.
Asserting that the Chinese side will continue to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity, Lijian referred to the troop movement in the East China Sea and asserted that the relevant moves by the Chinese army “are a countermeasure to the US negative actions recently, including the lawmakers’ visit to Taiwan”.
Significantly, one of the members of the Congressional delegation, Senator Robert Menendez, who has been co-chair of the Senate Taiwan Caucus since 2009 and has introduced numerous pro-Taiwan bills, recalled that the Chinese government issued a communique that they were very unhappy that the delegation was in Taiwan. “But that did not dissuade us from coming. And it won’t dissuade us in the future in supporting Taiwan,” he declared.
The US of late has been more supportive of the Taiwan cause in face of an increasingly aggressive China. On April 6, 2022, the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged publicly that it was officially notified by the United States government that the US will make a $95 million sale of Patriot contractor technical assistance to Taiwan.
This is the third arms sale made by the Joe Biden administration and the second announcement of arms sales this year, which demonstrates the US government’s high regard for Taiwan’s national defence requirements. It continues a policy of recent years of normalizing arms sales to Taiwan, assisting Taiwan in making timely acquisitions of essential defence equipment and effectively upgrading its deterrence capabilities.
In the face of China’s continuing military expansion and provocative actions, Taiwan asserted that it must show its strong determination to defend itself. To safeguard national security, the government stated it will continue to strengthen Taiwan’s self-defence and asymmetrical capabilities.
Top Photo: Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen meets a senior US congressional delegation in Taipei today
– global bihari bureau
