PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Friday that China’s military exercises targeting Taiwan, including missiles fired into Japan’s exclusive economic zone, constituted a “significant escalation” and that he had urged Beijing to give way.
China launched the drills after a visit by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan, angering Beijing, which claims the self-ruled island as its territory.
Blinken, however, told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Cambodia that Pelosi’s visit was peaceful and did not represent a change in US policy toward Taiwan, accusing China of using it as “a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.
He said the situation had led to “vigorous communication” at the East Asia Summits in Phnom Penh, which he and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi attended along with ASEAN countries, Russia and others.
“I reiterated the points that we made publicly as well as directly to the Chinese counterparts in recent days, again about the fact that they should not use the visit as a pretext for war, for escalation, for provocative actions, that there is no possible justification for what they did , and I call on them to stop these actions,” he said.
Blinken did not sit down with Wang face-to-face, but said he had already spoken to the Chinese foreign minister about the possibility of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan before it took place during meetings in Bali and clarified the US position.
On Friday, China announced unspecified sanctions against Pelosi over her visit. A statement from China’s foreign ministry said she ignored China’s concerns and strong opposition to her trip.
Pelosi received a euphoric welcome as the first speaker of the US House of Representatives and the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in more than 25 years.
China opposes any dealings by Taiwanese officials with foreign governments and has accused the US of upsetting the status quo with Pelosi’s visit. The US insists there is no change in its “one China” position to recognize the government in Beijing, while allowing informal relations and defense ties with Taipei.
Despite China’s aggressive response to the visit, Blinken said the US would also not change its “commitment to the security of our allies in the region” and that the Defense Department had ordered the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier group “to remain in position in the joint observation area of the situation.
“We will fly, sail and operate wherever international law allows,” he said. “We will continue to conduct standard air and sea transits through the Taiwan Strait, consistent with our long-standing approach of working with allies and partners to protect freedom of navigation and overflight.”
At the opening of the East Asia Summit, Wang patted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the shoulder as he entered the room and gave a quick wave to the already seated Lavrov before taking his seat. Lavrov waved back.
Blinken, who entered the room last, didn’t even look at Lavrov as he took his own seat about a half-dozen chairs away, or at Wang, who sat further down at the same table as Lavrov.
Before the Phnom Penh talks, the US State Department indicated that Blinken had no plans to meet face-to-face with either during the meetings.
After the meetings, Lavrov told reporters that there had been many “fiery statements” about the implications of Pelosi’s visit.
“There have been some pretty sharp statements from our Chinese partners, who we support,” he told reporters. “There are responses from the US and Japan that this is none of China’s business and that the declared policy of supporting the one-China principle does not mean that one should seek permission from Beijing to visit Taiwan. Of course, this is strange logic.
The talks came a day after WNBA star Brittney Greener was convicted of drug possession and sentenced to nine years in prison by Russia in a politically charged case amid antagonisms surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Blinken said the conviction and sentence “compounds the injustice that has been done to her.”
“This underscores our very great concern about the Russian legal system and the Russian government’s use of wrongful detention to advance its own agenda using individuals as political pawns,” he said.
Blinken raised the possibility of a prisoner swap for Greener and another American jailed in Russia, Paul Whelan, but Lavrov told reporters that such a deal could only be taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Joe Biden.
“We are ready to discuss this topic, but to discuss it within the channel that was agreed upon by Presidents Putin and Biden,” Lavrov said on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting.
On Thursday, China canceled a meeting of foreign ministers with Japan in protest at a statement by the Group of Seven industrialized nations that said there was no justification for Beijing’s military exercises that effectively encircle Taiwan.
“Japan, along with another member of the G7 and the EU, made an irresponsible statement blaming China and confusing right and wrong,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in Beijing.
When Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa began speaking Friday at the East Asia Summit, Lavrov and Wang left the room, according to a diplomat in the room who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private session.
After the Chinese missiles were fired into Japan’s economic zone, Blinken said the US stands in “strong solidarity” with Japan after the “dangerous actions that China has taken”.
___
Associated Press writer Jim Gomez in Manila, Philippines, contributed to this report.
Add Comment