Secretary Antony Blinken said that the United States does not support Taiwan breaking away from China in his meeting with President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Let’s read the news and learn what the Secretary maintains in a meeting with the Chinese President.
Antony Blinken Says U.S. Does Not Support Taiwan Independence
U.S. State Secretary Antony Blinken visited China in an attempt to improve the long-strained country’s relations with China. In his meeting with China President Xi Jinping in Beijing on Monday, the Secretary declared that the United States does not support Taiwan’s Independence.
Taiwan considers itself distinct from the China mainland, with its constitution and elected leaders, while Beijing sees it as a revolutionary province of the country.
China says that “One China” includes Taiwan as a Chinese territory and has been supposed to annex Taiwan by force to hold its ‘One China policy.
The United States maintains informal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. In his 35-minute meeting with President Xi at the Great Hall of the People west of Tiananmen Square, Blinken repeated that the longstanding U.S. One China policy had stayed the same.
After the meeting, Blinken attended a press conference where he said, “We do not support Taiwan’s independence. We remain opposed to either side’s unilateral changes to the status quo.”
Blinken also mentioned China’s increasing aggression towards Taiwan. However, he assured the Chinese government that the United States does not support any change in the country’s current stance. While he emphasized various acts that support the ‘One China policy, the Secretary also talked about the United State’s accountability towards Taiwan.
Also, See: The Relation Between China and Taiwan
He added that the U.S. remains committed to its responsibility under the Taiwan Relations Act, which he said includes “making sure Taiwacanto defends itself.”
In his meeting, Blinken also raised the country’s concern about China’s Provocative actions in the waters around Taiwan. Referring to the high level of commercial container traffic going through the Taiwan Strait every day and the high volume of semiconductors manufactured in Taiwan.
The Secretary said,” We have deep concerns about some of the provocative actions that China has taken in recent years, back to 2016. And the reason that this is a concern for so many countries, not only the United States, is that were there to be a crisis over Taiwan, the likelihood is that it could produce an economic crisis that could affect quite literally the entire world.”
He added, “We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences,” Xi replied, “This is very good,” denoting his country expects the same. Blinken’s attempt to clear up Washington’s policy towards Taiwan is important because it is the first high-level visit by a U.S. official in five years.
The country’s relations with China have worsened in the last few years for several reasons, including Taiwan, a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the U.S., China’s friendly relationship with Russia, data security concerns with the Chinese app TikTok, etc.
During their meeting on Monday, President Xi asserted that he hoped Blinken’s visit would positively contribute to improving ties between Beijing and Washington. Xi said, “State-to-state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity. I hope that Secretary Blinken, through this visit, could make a positive contribution to stabilizing China-US relations.”
The Chinese President also affirmed that the world needs a stable China-U.S. relationship and said, “China respects United States interests and does not aspire to challenge or displace the United States.”
Despite discussing several issues between both countries, the U.S. could not achieve one of its primary goals at the meeting. As confessed by Blinken, China did not agree to set up a crisis military-to-military communications channel proposed by the United States.
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