Blinken warns China against provocation on Taiwan

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Friday warned China against taking any “provocative” action on Taiwan after Beijing lashed out over an annual speech on Double Ten National Day by island-country President Lai Ching-te.

He said, “We continue to underscore the importance of upholding freedom of navigation and overflight in the South and East China Seas, as well as the need to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

Blinken, speaking in Laos after an ASEAN East Asia Summit, called the speech by Lai, in which he vowed to “resist annexation,” a “regular exercise.”

Blinken highlighted various issues ranging from the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict to increasing collaborations between the ASEAN members and the USA. He reiterated President Biden’s message that “so much of our future will be written in the Indo-Pacific.”

Blinken was questioned on the intensified military threat China is putting upon Taiwan during Taiwan’s celebration of its National Day on October 10.

Taiwan celebrates National Day on October 10 every year to mark ). It commemorates the start of the Wuchang Uprising on 10 October 1911 which ultimately led to the establishment of the Republic of China on 1 January 1912 which was ousted from the mainland and eventually settled into Taiwan.

On being asked what is the message of the US to China on Taiwan, Blinken said that on Taiwan, almost across the board, countries including ASEAN and beyond, all countries share the same sentiment which is to see that peace and stability maintained across the Taiwan Strait.

He warned that China should not use military exercise “in any fashion as a pretext for provocative actions.”

Blinken reinforced that it is imperative to preserve the status quo and neither party should take any actions that might undermine it. Underlining that preserving peace and stability is crucial as it affects the lives, the livelihoods, and the future of every country in the region.

Blinken also emphasised the economic importance of protecting Taiwan to secure economic stability in the region and the world at large.

He noted, “Fifty per cent of commercial container traffic goes through the Taiwan Strait every day. More than 70 per cent of the high-end semiconductors that the world needs are produced in Taiwan. So there’s a strong interest around the world on maintaining peace and stability, preserving the status quo, avoiding any kind of conflict that could disrupt things that are so essential to the global economy.”

China has continued to ramp up its military threats against Taiwan, following President Lai Ching-te’s Thursday speech, which rejected China’s claim of sovereignty over the island.

China has time and again rejected Taiwan’s claims of being an independent nation. Earlier this week on October 10, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Mao Ning said that “Lai’s speech deliberately seeks to sever the historical connection between the two sides of the strait and reiterated the rhetoric of mutual non-subordination and insisting on sovereignty.”

Earlier on Friday, Taiwan detected 20 Chinese military aircraft and 10 naval vessels around Taiwan. Thirteen of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan’s northern and southwestern Air Defense Identification Zone, according to a posting on social media platform X by Taiwan’s defense ministry.

The “one China” principle says that Taiwan is an indivisible part of China’s territory, she said.

“No matter what Lai’s administration says or does, it cannot change the objective fact that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one China,” she added.