CNA/Reuters/ga/NST
18th August 2022 – (Washington) China’s military pressure campaign against Taiwan is likely to persist in the coming weeks and months, said a top United States diplomat for the region.
In a media conference today, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Daniel Kritenbrink said Beijing’s words and actions following US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei had been “deeply destabilising”.
China has been carrying out war games and live-fire drills around the island since Pelosi’s visit to Taipei earlier this month.
Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs accused China of using Pelosi’s trip as an excuse to change the status quo, jeopardising peace. Kritenbrink said the visit was used as an excuse to change the status quo, and one of its chief concerns was that Beijing would continue taking steps to put pressure on Taiwan. “The goal of this campaign is clear to intimidate and coerce Taiwan and undermine its resilience.”
The United States has been clear with China that its approach to Taiwan has not changed, including the US commitment to its “one China” policy and not supporting Taiwan’s formal independence, Kritenbrink added.
“While our policy has not changed, what has changed is Beijing’s growing coercion. The PRC’s words and actions are deeply destabilising. They risk miscalculation and threaten the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
The United States has conveyed to China in every conversation that it does not seek and will not provoke a crisis, he said.
U.S lines of communication with Beijing remain open, and the United States will continue to conduct routine naval transits through the Taiwan Strait, Kritenbrink added.
Kritenbrink further said that the US would act responsibly by taking calm but resolute steps to uphold peace and stability in the face of the growing hostility in line with its policies.
China has never renounced the use of force to take control of Taiwan.