Japan, US declare their support to Taiwan amid China’s increasing aggression
DHARAMSALA, 29 June: Amidst China’s aggression, the US has declared that its “support for Taiwan is rock solid,” while Japan’s deputy defense minister has stated that Taiwan must be protected ‘as a democratic country.’
“Our support for Taiwan is rock solid. Taiwan is a leading democracy and major economy and a security partner, and we will continue to strengthen our relationship across all areas — all the areas we cooperate, including on economic issues,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki has said on Monday at a daily press briefing.
Psaki further declared the Biden administration’s commitment and the importance of the US-Taiwan relationships.
“We’re committed to the importance of the US-Taiwan trade and investment relationships and we will continue to strengthen our trade relationship with Taiwan, which is why we are looking forward to the upcoming trade and investment framework agreement council meeting, which was recently announced,” she added.
While the Biden administration has described Taiwan as “a leading democracy,” State Minister of Defense Yasuhide Nakayama has stated that Taiwan must be protected ‘as a democratic country’ as he highlighted the growing threats posed by China in space, in missile technology, in the cyber domain and in nuclear and conventional forces, and said that under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s leadership.
According to a report on CNN, Nakayama has said that Japan and Taiwan were geographically close and that if something happened in Taiwan it would affect Japan’s Okinawa prefecture, where US forces and their families are based.
“So wake up. We have to wake up, ” he has said.
Earlier this month on 15 June, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense reported the largest incursion into its Air Defense Identification Zones (ADIZ) till date by China as Beijing flew Twenty-eight Chinese military planes over the self-ruled island. It surpassed the previous peak of 25 airplanes reported on 12 April.
Taiwan has been self-governed since 1949 when Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang troops fled to the island after losing China’s civil war to Mao’s Communist Party. Beijing considers Taiwan as an errant province and declared time and again that it won’t shy away from using force to bring it under its control.