China’s potential invasion of Taiwan still poses a “distinct threat” to the international system, according to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan on Wednesday.
Just one day before, a senior Beijing official had issued a stern warning to deter “stubborn” aspirations for the island’s independence.
According to Sullivan on Bloomberg TV, the United States would “fight back” against any attempts to overthrow the current international order and reiterates its long-standing support for the One China Policy.
This week, a different delegation from France and yet another team of American politicians will visit Taipei to put Beijing to the test.
On Wednesday, when Sullivan was questioned about the possibility of an invasion, he said, “I believe there remains a significant danger that there may be a military scenario near Taiwan.”
The People’s Republic of China has openly indicated that an invasion of Taiwan is still a possibility in accordance with official policy.
Beijing is allegedly changing its stance toward Taipei “in terms of their disruption of the status quo along the Taiwan Strait, moves they are doing with their military to destabilise peace and stability,” according to the top Biden adviser.
He said that “the American viewpoint has been steady and constant.”
Sullivan highlighted the US’s steadfast confidence in a single Chinese government based in Beijing, but he also reiterated support for the Taiwan Connections Act of 1979’s non-diplomatic relations with the Taipei administration.
We still hold to that belief, and we will resist any attempt to enact a coercive alteration to the status quo, he said.
The fact that President Joe Biden has no present plans to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the next Group of 20 meeting in November is another indication of the tense ties between the two countries, according to Sullivan.
It would, however, “provide a chance for the two of them to sit down in person,” he did remark.
On Wednesday local time, Xiao Qian, the ambassador for China in Australia, said to the ABC that Beijing was ‘patiently waiting’ for a peaceful reunion with Taiwan.
He said, “We cannot exclude out other alternatives, including using military force,” nevertheless.
“For such secessionists, re-education is not the issue. They will be punished in accordance with the law,’ Qian added.
They are actively working to separate Taiwan from China. Consequently, it is not a matter of education or re-education.
The envoy said that “there is just handful of individuals who have been persistent to push a Taiwan independence” when asked whether it meant broad punishment across the island.
Meanwhile a bipartisan delegation from the House of Representatives reportedly landed in Taiwan on Wednesday, the latest in a succession of American trips that has upset China.
Following Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last month, China, which asserts Taiwan as its own territory despite the government there strongly objecting, conducted military exercises close to the island.
U.S. Representative Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat, was in charge of the group that would remain until Friday, according to sources with knowledge of the arrangements who spoke to Reuters.
Democrats Kaiali’i Kahele and Republicans Scott Franklin, Joe Wilson, Andy Barr, Darrell Issa, Claudia Tenney, and Kat Cammack made up the rest of the American delegation, according to the people who spoke to Reuters.
In particular, as tensions with China increase, Taiwan has been eager to strengthen ties with democratic nations that share its values. Legislators from Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany are also anticipated to come later this year.
China sees Taiwan as a strictly internal problem and takes offence when international dignitaries or lawmakers visit.
According to Taiwan’s democratically elected government, the People’s Republic of China has no right to claim the island since it has never ruled it, and the 23 million residents of Taiwan alone may determine what happens to their country in the future.