Washington will strengthen its trade relations with Taiwan and making new air and sea crossings through the strait, in response to China’s “provocative” actions, a senior US official said on Friday.
An “ambitious roadmap” on trade will be unveiled “in the coming days”, said Kurt Campbell, White House coordinator for Asia-Pacific.
This adviser to Joe Biden claimed that Beijing had used the recent controversial visit of Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in an attempt to upset the status quo regarding the situation on the island. This visit was “consistent” with Washington’s policy, and China “overreacted”, he said. Beijing used this pretext to “launch a pressure campaign against Taiwan in order to change the status quo, jeopardizing peace and stability across the Strait of Taiwan “. China’s actions “continue to be provocative, destabilizing and unprecedented,” said Kurt Campbell.
The United States reaffirms its commitment
Beijing got carried away after the visit to Taiwan, last week, from Nancy Pelosi, launching multi-day air and sea exercises around the island. In response, the United States reaffirmed its commitment to the region.
Mr Campbell said the Biden administration would “continue to strengthen (its) ties with Taiwan, including by continuing to advance our economic and trade relations.” American ships and planes will also make new passages in the Strait of Taiwan “in the next few weeks,” added Kurt Campbell. US forces “will continue to fly, sail or operate wherever international law allows”, he continued, without specifying the nature of the deployments made in the strait or their timetable.
Criticizing China’s decision to end its climate cooperation with the United States, the senior official said Washington continued to keep communication channels “open” with Beijing.