US playing with fire over Taiwan, Beijing warns, as US Congress team pledges support for island in event of PLA attack
- ‘Sneaky’ trip seriously violated one-China principle, Beijing’s defence ministry says, as PLA launches air and sea drills in ‘counteraction’
- To abandon Taiwan would be ‘to abandon freedom and democracy and reward the worst of humanity’, Republican senator Lindsey Graham tells President Tsai
“Taiwan is an inseparable part of the territory of China and any intervention by any outside [force] is intolerable,” Beijing’s defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian said in a statement on Friday.
As the US lawmakers visited Taiwan, the PLA Eastern Theatre Command on Friday launched extensive naval and air exercises around the island, involving frigates, bombers and fighter jets. Beijing said the staging of the war games aimed to highlight its warnings to both the US and Taiwan against what it sees as attempts to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
02:20
Heightened tensions in Taiwan amid Russian invasion of Ukraine
Wu said the joint drills and patrols were “necessary action” to uphold the sovereignty of China in response to the recent situation in the strait.
Beijing’s foreign ministry, for its part, called the PLA exercises a “counteraction” against the US sending a string of congressmen and politicians to Taiwan in recent times.
In a statement, ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the operation was in response to the frequent release of wrong signals by the US on the Taiwan issue, warning “those playing with fire will burn themselves”.
Taiwan has long been a source of tension between Washington and Beijing, which sees the democratically run island as a breakaway province that must be brought under control, by force if necessary.
However, despite the furious response and trading of barbs, there was no sign of a potential US-Beijing conflict or the eruption of a cross-strait war, according to observers.
Underlining US support for Taiwan, the visiting bipartisan group said they were confident America would come to its aid in the event of an attack from mainland China.
Taiwan’s leader tells Swedish lawmakers democratic partners ‘must unite’
“If you ask what would America do if the Chinese Communist Party becomes more provocative against Taiwan, I am convinced we would stand for what we love and we would stand with you,” Graham told Tsai.
“To abandon Taiwan would be to abandon democracy and freedom. It would be to abandon free trade. It would reward the worst of humanity. We are here today to show our support for Taiwan.”
Menendez said the group’s presence in Taiwan at a time when the world was focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent “a powerful message” to the Taiwanese people. “We understand that here in Taiwan, here in this region, this is where the future is.”
He also said the Chinese Communist government had expressed its unhappiness to the delegation ahead of its trip.
“With Taiwan producing 90 per cent of the world’s high-end semiconductor products, it is a country of global significance, of global consequence, of global impact. And therefore, it should be understood that the security of Taiwan has a global impact,” Menendez said.
Republican senators Richard Burr, Ben Sasse and Rob Portman, and congressman Ronny Jackson, who is also a Republican, were the other members of the group.
Tsai came into contact with a Covid-19 case during a family meal. She later tested negative and remains in good health, according to the office.
In a brief press conference later, Menendez said a draft bill he co-sponsored in February to rename Taipei’s de facto embassy in Washington as the Taiwan Representative Office had seen some progress.
“There is legislation moving in Congress,” he said.
The renaming move sharply angered Beijing because, as its own territory, it does not see Taiwan as entitled to full representation.
Asked what the US would do if Beijing attacked Taiwan, Graham said: “To the Chinese Communist Party the answer the average Americans will have is why [do] you want to do this? The last century taught us, when good people give in to evil, you live with regret. If the American people abandon Taiwan, it would change the world fundamentally for the worst. Who would be our ally in the future?”
02:19
Taiwan holds urban, aerial combat drills amid threats of invasion by mainland China
“To the Chinese Communist Party, we do not seek conflict, but we would fight for our values. Choose wisely,” Graham said, adding the group’s visit was “not to change the one-China policy, and we are here to say we stand with a friend in Taiwan”.
On the possibility of Taiwan becoming a part of the Indo-Pacific economic framework, Portman said he believed it was more important for Taiwan to be able to negotiate and reach a free-trade agreement with the US.
“That would deepen our bilateral economic ties,” he said, such a pact would also reflect the US’ strong support for Taiwan and could also “act as a deterrence to any military activity China might be considering”.
Taiwan to boost defences of tiny islet outpost with automated weapons
The group arrived in Taipei on a US government plane on Thursday night, the latest in a string of such visits to Taiwan by US lawmakers to reassure the island of American support following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
They met Foreign Minister Joseph Wu and Defence Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng before leaving Taiwan for Japan later on Friday.
The delegation had earlier been in Australia, where Menendez and Graham told Sky News Australia that the Senate foreign relations committee was pushing for a greater US military presence in the country.
Congressional delegations met senior Taipei officials, including Tsai, during two separate visits last November.
Last month, US President Joe Biden sent a delegation of former senior defence and security officials to reassure Taipei of US support as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine heightened concerns about a similar cross-strait move by mainland China.
