Blinken calls on China "not to manufacture a crisis" around Taiwan
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken "(hopes) very much that Beijing will not manufacture a crisis or seek a pretense to increase its aggressive military action" after the Chinese military fired missiles into the waters around Taiwan as part of exercises in the wake of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit there.
CNN reports.
Antony Blinken emphasized that nothing had changed in the US position regarding the "one China" policy after Nancy Pelosi's visit.
"The US remains committed to our One China policy guided by our commitments to the Taiwan Relations Act, Three Communiques, and Six Assurances," the US State Secretary said.
At the ASEAN-US Ministerial meeting in Cambodia, Blinken noted that "many countries around the world believe that escalation serves no one and could have unintended consequences that serve no one's interests, including ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] members and including China."
The secretary of state said the US had been in contact with Beijing "at all levels" recently to get that signal across.
"We've reached out to engage our PRC counterparts in recent days at every level of government to convey this message," the top US diplomat said.
"The United States continues to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We oppose any unilateral efforts to change the status quo, especially by force," Blinken reiterated.
China on Thursday said it launched multiple missiles into the sea east of Taiwan and that all of them hit their targets. At the same time, Japan said that ballistic missiles launched by China fell into its waters for the first time.
"The entire live-fire training mission has been successfully completed, and the relevant air and sea area control are now lifted," China's statement said.
The US National Security Council's strategic communications coordinator, John Kirby, said that the United States is "monitoring the situation" and considers China's reaction to the visit excessive and provocative. He added that one of the concerns with exercises like this or missile launches like these was the risk of a mistake that could lead to some conflict.
Pelosi's visit to Taiwan this week prompted immense backlash from Beijing in the lead-up to, during, and after the trip.
In addition to the military drills, China also hit Taiwan with trade restrictions in apparent retaliation.
On Tuesday night, Chinese Deputy Foreign Minister Xie Feng summoned US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns to protest Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
According to a US State Department spokesperson, Burns "explained that the Speaker of the House has the right to travel to Taiwan and that her trip is fully consistent with our one-China policy."
They said Burns "also reiterated that the United States will not escalate and stands ready to work with China to prevent escalation altogether."
To recap, China's large-scale military exercises around Taiwan were a response to the visit to Taipei by the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi. She became the highest-ranking US official to visit Taiwan in 25 years.
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