Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the U.S. does not support Taiwan’s independence after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinp...
Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that the U.S. does not support Taiwan’s independence after meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday.
Blinken was in Beijing to warm U.S. relations with China, which have become strained in recent years over several issues, including Taiwan.
“We do not support Taiwan independence,” Blinken said at a press conference after his meeting with the Chinese president in Beijing. “We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side.”
The Secretary of State met with President Xi for about 35 minutes at the Great Hall of the People on the west side of Tiananmen Square.
Blinken reiterated that the “longstanding” U.S. One China policy “has not changed.”
China holds that there is “one China” that includes Taiwan as a Chinese territory and has considered annexing Taiwan by force.
The U.S. maintains informal diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Blinken added that the U.S. remains committed to its responsibility under the Taiwan Relations Act, which includes “making sure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself.”
During the meeting, Blinken said he raised U.S. concerns about China’s “provocative actions” in the waters around Taiwan.
“We and many others have deep concerns about some of the provocative actions that China has taken in recent years going back to 2016,” Blinken said. “And the reason that this is a concern for so many countries, not just the United States, is that were there to be a crisis over Taiwan, the likelihood is that could produce an economic crisis that could affect quite literally the entire world.”
Blinken referenced the high level of commercial container traffic that goes through the Taiwan Strait every day as well as the high percentage of semiconductors that are manufactured in Taiwan.
“If as a result of a crisis that was taken offline, it would have dramatic consequences for virtually every country around the world,” Blinken said.
“We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait differences,” Blinken said.
President Xi said, “This is very good,” reportedly referring to the progress made during the meeting.
However, the Chinese president also appeared to reference China’s grievances.
“State-to-state interactions should always be based on mutual respect and sincerity. I hope that through this visit, Mr. Secretary, you will make more positive contributions to stabilizing China-U.S. relations,” Xi said during his opening remarks at the meeting.
Blinken acknowledged that the U.S. had not accomplished one of the primary goals of the meeting — China did not agree to set up a crisis military-to-military communications channel.
U.S. relations with China have deteriorated in the last few years. Topics that have strained the relationship include Taiwan, China’s close relationship with Russia, a suspected Chinese spy balloon over the U.S., and data security concerns with the Chinese app TikTok.
Meanwhile, there have been several close encounters recently between U.S. and Chinese military ships and aircraft.
Earlier this month, the U.S. military released video of an “unsafe” move by a Chinese navy ship, which cut across the path of an American destroyer, forcing the American ship to slow down to avoid a crash. In May, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said a Chinese fighter pilot performed an “unnecessarily aggressive maneuver” while intercepting a U.S. aircraft over the South China Sea.
In 2022, the U.S. and China had $690 billion in trade, a record for the two countries.
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