US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin emphasised Washington’s determination to uphold the status quo of Taiwan that has “served this region so well for so long”, as he spoke at a major forum on Asian security on Saturday.
“Under the 'One China' policy, the US acknowledges China's position that Taiwan is part of China, but has never officially recognised Beijing's claim to the democratic island of 23 million,” said Austin.
However, the US defence chief vowed to augment the island’s ability to defend itself against what he described as increasingly “provocative and destabilising” moves by Beijing.
“We will continue to fulfill our commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act. And that includes assisting Taiwan and maintaining a sufficient self-defence capability. And that means maintaining our own capacity to resist any use of force, or other forms of coercion that would jeopardise the security or the social or economic system of the people of Taiwan,” Austin said at the International Institute of Strategic Studies Shangri-La Dialogue defence summit.
He added that the American policy towards the issue had not changed: “But unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be true for the People's Republic of China (PRC) ... We’ve witnessed a steady increase in provocative and destabilising military activity near Taiwan. And that includes People's Liberation Army aircraft flying near Taiwan in record numbers in recent months, and nearly every day.”
Austin stated in his keynote speech that Indo-Pacific countries should not have to face “political intimidation, economic coercion, or harassment by maritime militias."
"The PRC's moves threaten to undermine security, and stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific," Austin said.
In an attempt to prevent tensions from spiralling, however, Austin categorically rejected the notion of Taiwan's independence, adding:
“We do not seek confrontation or conflict. And we do not seek a new Cold War, an Asian NATO, or a region split into hostile blocs," he said.
China-US Trade Barbs Over Taiwan
The Taiwan issue was discussed during a bilateral meeting between Austin and Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Friday.
The two sides had accused one another of trying to undermine the decades-long status quo over Taiwan.
General Wei reiterated China's firm position on the Taiwan issue, vowing that Beijing would "smash to smithereens any Taiwan independence plot and resolutely uphold the unification of the motherland", according to Wu Qian, a spokesman for China's Defense Ministry.
“There is only one China, and Taiwan is a sacred, inalienable part of China's territory", Wei said, emphasising that the “one-China” principle is the political foundation of China-US relations.
The island of Taiwan has been governed independently from mainland China since 1949, when it split from Beijing during a civil war. Beijing’s official policy envisages a peaceful unification of Taiwan with mainland China over time. Formally, the US recognises that the PRC is the island's sole legitimate government, and that Taiwan is a Chinese province. However, in practice, Washington has continued to send weapons to the Taiwanese government.
Just recently, on 8 June, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that the State Department had approved the sale of “ship spare parts, ship system spare parts, and related equipment” to Taiwan in a deal worth $120Mln. Beijing has repeatedly warned the US against such moves, which it sees as blatant interference in its internal affairs.