Chinese military actions around Taiwan threaten the region

(dpa)

The US has criticized Chinese military activities around Taiwan and warned of destabilization in the region. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin highlighted the “steady increase in provocative and destabilizing military activity near Taiwan,” including near-daily Chinese military flights near the island, at the Shangri-La Dialogue Forum in Singapore on Saturday. “Our policy hasn’t changed, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to apply to the People’s Republic of China,” he said. The annual forum is the premier security conference in the Asia-Pacific region.

China views democratic Taiwan, which broke away from the mainland in 1949, as a breakaway province rather than an independent state, and is attempting to isolate it internationally. The 23 million Taiwanese, on the other hand, consider themselves independent.

“We remain focused on maintaining peace, stability and the status quo in the Taiwan Straits,” Austin said. China’s behavior, on the other hand, threatens “to undermine security, stability and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific”.

At the same time, Austin reiterated that the United States will stick to its long-standing one-China policy. With this doctrine, the communist leadership in Beijing does not allow any country to have relations with both the People’s Republic and Taiwan. Washington also does not maintain official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but regards Beijing as a legitimate representative of China. There are only about a dozen countries worldwide that recognize Taiwan diplomatically – including small Pacific countries, states in Central America and the Vatican.

Austin met his Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe in person for the first time in Singapore on Friday. Austin emphasized that communication channels between the two countries must be kept open. Relations between Washington and Beijing have long been strained.