North Korea slams Joe Biden’s pledge to defend Taiwan if China invades

The vice foreign minister said Washington’s ‘indiscreet meddling’ in the issue of Taiwan threatens to touch off a ‘delicate situation on the Korean peninsula’
Earlier, Biden said the US is committed to defending Taiwan if Beijing mounts an attack on the self-ruled island

North Korea

Kyodo

Published: 11:45am, 23 Oct 2021

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North Korea on Saturday lambasted US President Joe Biden’s recent commitment to defend Taiwan if it is attacked by China, saying Washington has been attempting to stifle socialist countries.

In a statement dated Friday, Vice Foreign Minister Pak Myong-ho also emphasised that the situation surrounding the Taiwan Strait “is in correlation with the situation” on the Korean peninsula, criticising the United States for trying to maintain its “supremacy” in East Asia.

“Taiwan is an integral part of China,” Pak said in the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency on Saturday.

“We fully support the Chinese government and people in their stand to defend the national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

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The US has caused military tensions in East Asia and “indiscreet meddling” by it in the issue of Taiwan “entails a potential danger of touching off a delicate situation on the Korean peninsula,” Pak said.

On Thursday, Biden said the US is committed to defending Taiwan if China mounts an attack on the self-ruled island, apparently contradicting Washington’s long-standing policy to keep its stance on the matter ambiguous.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin swiftly reacted to Biden’s remarks on Friday, saying, “No one should underestimate the Chinese people’s strong determination, firm will and strong ability to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

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Mainland China and Taiwan have been governed separately since they split in 1949 as a result of a civil war. Their relations have deteriorated since independence-leaning Tsai Ing-wen became Taiwan’s president in 2016. Beijing considers the island a renegade province.

China is known as Pyongyang’s closest and most influential ally in economic terms.

In North Korea, meanwhile, a 10-day exhibition titled “Self-defence-2021” wrapped up on Friday after Pak Jong-chon, a close aide to leader Kim Jong-un, made a closing speech.

The senior official of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, who has been in charge of weapons development, said in the speech, “The uninterrupted beefing up of the defence capability for the future is the invariable path that no force can hold in check.”

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Kim said in an opening speech at the exhibition that the military danger facing his country has increased in recent years, while the US has done nothing to make him believe it has dropped its hostility toward it.

Pyongyang and Washington have no diplomatic ties, as the 1950-1953 Korean war – in which US-led UN forces fought alongside the South against the North, which was backed by China and the Soviet Union – ended in a ceasefire, not a peace treaty.