The U.S. Department of Defense said it could expect U.S. ships to pass through the Taiwan Strait within a few weeks. The picture shows the crying scene of the People’s Liberation Army who went to support the Sino-Indian border.Photo: flipping twitter
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl announced today at a media briefing at the U.S. Department of Defense that the United States will provide Ukraine with additional military aid worth $1 billion. The media mostly focused on the situation in the Taiwan Strait. Carr said that Beijing is trying to create a new status quo by “cutting sausages”. A large number of Chinese warships cross the middle line of the Taiwan Strait, which is obviously to coerce Taiwan and the international community. The outside world can expect that US ships will pass through the Taiwan Strait in the next few weeks.
Carr mentioned that the current Taiwan Strait crisis is mainly caused by China. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not the first House Speaker to visit Taiwan, and her visit has not changed the US policy towards China and Taiwan. Obviously, China is trying to create a new status quo by “cutting sausages”, sending a large number of aircraft and ships to cross the middle line of the Taiwan Strait and move towards the coastline of Taiwan. Clearly, given the importance of the Taiwan Strait to the global economy, Beijing wants to create some kind of new normal that it hopes will coerce Taiwan and the international community.
Facing Beijing’s constant accusations that the United States has hollowed out the “one-China policy”, Carr emphasized that the US policy has not changed, but China’s policy. The United States has the “One China Policy”, and under the “Taiwan Relations Act”, it also has a commitment to provide Taiwan with self-defense capabilities, and the United States must have the ability to avoid the use of force in the Taiwan Strait to change the status quo; the United States neither supports China’s use of force against Taiwan, nor does it support Taiwan. It does not support Taiwan’s move towards independence, and the United States supports the status quo. None of this has changed.
Carr pointed out that the current priority for the United States is to ensure that Beijing is well aware that the U.S. military will continue to fly, sail and perform missions wherever the high seas allow, including the Taiwan Strait, saying: “I think you can expect the United States to Continue to pass through the Taiwan Strait as usual.” After Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, whether the U.S. has a new time point to assess China’s possible invasion of Taiwan, Carr answered no, and the current actions of the CCP are all expected by the United States.