Taiwan under no ‘imminent invasion’ by China, says Pentagon Chief amid escalating tensions
The Defense Secretary of the US has stated that he does not perceive any imminent danger of invasion by China against the self-governed Taiwan.
The US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, has stated that he sees no imminent threat of invasion of Taiwan by China but added that Beijing was trying to establish a “new normal” with its military misadventures around the island. “I don’t see an imminent invasion,” Austin stated in an interview broadcast on Sunday on CNN.
“What we do see is China moving to establish what we would call a new normal. Increased activity – we saw a number of centre line crossings of the Taiwan Strait by their aircraft. That number has increased over time. We’ve seen more activity with their surface vessels and waters in and around Taiwan,” claimed the US Secretary of Defense.
US backs Taiwan amid tense situation in the region
A visit to the self-governed island-nation of Taiwan in early August by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi had prompted China to create a menace in the region, as it subsequently launched its largest military drills that included the Chinese military surrounding Taiwan from six zones. Additionally, the military drills included repeated violations of Taiwan’s airspace by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
The United States and its allies responded to the drills by continuing to sail their respective vessels through the Taiwan Strait. Two US Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville conducted a routine transit through a corridor of the Taiwan strait on 28 August, stated the Seventh Fleet.
The ship’s transit through the Taiwan Strait demonstrates the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific,” the statement said, noting that the waters were “beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state.”
Meanwhile, a Canadian frigate had also made a routine transit through the Taiwan Strait on September 20, reported TRT World.
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The US working to ‘reopen’ cooperation with China
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin further stated that the United States will continue working with its allies and partners “to ensure that we maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.”
The narrow passage of the Taiwan Strait has been a frequent source of military contention between Taiwan and China since the Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with the Mao Zedong-led forces (People’s Republic of China).
Moreover, the Pentagon chief stated that Washington was working to reopen channels of military communication with China, “something that is critical to both countries,” Austain said.
Beijing had halted cooperation with the US in a number of areas in August. This included dialogue between senior-level military commanders. The move came as retaliation for Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.
“We’ll do everything we can to continue to signal that we want those channels open and I would hope that China will begin to lean forward a bit more and work with us,” he said.
The Pentagon chief further said that he has communicated by phone and in person to his Chinese counterpart, China’s Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, who agreed that open communications were important.
