Just one day after setting up a joint three-nation front to take on China, the US and Australia have pledged to strengthen ties with Taiwan.
The foreign affairs and defence ministers of Australia met with their American counterparts for the 31st Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN 2021) in Washington where they issued a joint statement covering a wide range of issues, including the Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan, Covid-19 recovery, climate change and the nuclear-powered subs for Australia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin met with Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Marise Payne and Minister for Defence Peter Dutton where they said that Taiwan, "a leading democracy and a critical partner for both countries", needs to be strengthened for its pivotal role in the region.
Taiwan News reports that one of the significant outcomes of the meeting was the decision to support Taipei in international organisations as a "member where statehood is not a prerequisite and as an observer or guest where statehood is a prerequisite for membership". Such vital support to Taiwan would lead to the island nation playing an important role in global affairs.
The joint statement also said that both the US and Australia support a peaceful resolution of issues related to the Taiwan strait "without resorting to threats or coercion." In conjunction with this, the two also expressed concerns over China's "expansive maritime claims" in the South China Sea. Here the two countries stated that countries should be able to exercise their rights and freedoms according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
Mounting pressure on China, the AUSMIN 2021 joint statement also says that transparent investigation needs to be conducted into the origin of Covid-19. Since the detection of the virus in China's Wuhan in late 2019, the communist nation has evaded investigation into its spread and origins.
The statement also referred to repressing media freedom in Hong Kong and the suppression of rights of the Muslim minority in Xinjiang.
In just two days, this is a second salvo against China by the US and Australia. The earlier one was announced on Wednesday by President Joe Biden when he unveiled the Australia, the UK and the US alliance to strengthen Australia in developing nuclear-powered submarines with an eye on Chinese aggression.
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