US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Wednesday that China rejects the longstanding status quo on Taiwan, reiterating Washington’s assessment that Beijing intends to speed up the timetable for its reunification with the island.
The statements by the head of US diplomacy come after Xi Jinping won a third term on the occasion of the Communist Party (CCP) Congress, reinforcing his status as the most influential Chinese leader since Mao Tse-tung.
This has raised fears in Taiwan that China will redouble its efforts to win the case, as Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu told parliament in Taipei on Wednesday.
A policy change
Antony Blinken recalled that the status quo (by which the United States recognizes only one China, but provides weapons to the island for its defense) had made it possible to “guarantee that there is no conflict between the United States and China over Taiwan.”
But, he told Bloomberg News, “what changed was the Beijing government’s decision that the status quo was no longer acceptable, that they wanted to go ahead and speed up the process” of reunification.
Furthermore, he stressed that China had decided to “make life difficult in Taiwan in the hope that this would speed up reunification.”
Chinese pressure on Taiwan “should concern not only the United States but all countries in the region and the world,” said Antony Blinken.
Source: BFM TV
