Russia accused the United States on Saturday of “playing with fire” around Taiwan, while China said it would press for “peaceful reunification” with the democratically-ruled island and vowed to take strong action to oppose any external interference.
Tensions over Taiwan between Washington and Beijing escalated after an August visit by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which was followed by large-scale Chinese military exercises, as well as a pledge by US President Joe Biden to defend the claimed Chinese.
Weeks before Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine in February, he and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping declared a “no-limits” partnership, pledging a pledge to collaborate more against the West.
Putin’s top diplomat Sergei Lavrov, in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday, addressed Washington’s stance on Taiwan, as well as Western sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
“They are playing with fire around Taiwan. In addition, they are pledging military support to Taiwan,” Lavrov said.
Putin explicitly supports China over Taiwan. “We intend to firmly adhere to the ‘One China’ principle,” Putin said last week. “We condemn provocations by the United States and its satellites in the Taiwan Strait.”
Asked last week in a CBS 60 Minutes interview whether US forces would defend Taiwan, Biden replied: “Yes, if indeed there was an unprecedented attack.”
The statement was the most explicit to date about sending US troops to defend the island. It also seemed to go beyond a long-standing US policy of “strategic ambiguity”, which makes it unclear whether the US would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan.
Speaking moments before Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing will continue to work for “peaceful reunification” with Taiwan and fight “separatist activities” towards Taiwan’s independence, while taking vigorous action. to oppose any outside interference.
“Only by resolutely preventing separatist activities can we forge a real basis for peaceful reunification. Only when China is completely reunified can there be lasting peace across the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
His comments come a day after a 90-minute meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in New York, the first talks since Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August.
After the meeting, China accused the United States of sending “very wrong and dangerous signals” to Taiwan. Blinken told Wang that maintaining Taiwan’s peace and stability is vitally important, a senior Biden administration official told reporters.
China sees Taiwan as one of its provinces. Beijing has long vowed to bring Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out using force to do so.
Taiwan’s democratically elected government strongly opposes China’s claims to sovereignty and says only the island’s 23 million people can decide its future.
Notice about Ukraine
Wang said China supports all efforts leading to the peaceful resolution of the “crisis” in Ukraine, but warned against a potential spillover from the war.
“The fundamental solution is to address the legitimate security concerns of all parties and build a balanced, effective and sustainable security architecture,” Wang said in his speech.
“We urge all parties involved to prevent the crisis from spreading and protect the legitimate rights and interests of developing countries.”
China has criticized Western sanctions against Russia but has stopped endorsing or aiding the military campaign. Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that China’s leader Xi Jinping was worried about Ukraine.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
