China should abandon threats against Taiwan, US diplomat says
"We further expect China to abandon threats against Taiwan or military pressure. I believe this would help ease cross-strait tensions," said Raymond Greene, the de facto ambassador as head of the American Institute in Taiwan.
· CNA · JoinRead a summary of this article on FAST.
Get bite-sized news via a new
cards interface. Give it a try.
Click here to return to FAST Tap here to return to FAST
FAST
TAIPEI: The top US diplomat in Taiwan said China should abandon its threats and military pressure against Taiwan and talk to the island's leaders as that would avoid misunderstandings and stabilise relations.
Raymond Greene, the de facto ambassador as head of the American Institute in Taiwan, which handles relations in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, said the consistent US policy has been to support exchanges across the Taiwan Strait.
He was discussing the visit of Taiwan's opposition leader to China on a Taiwanese political talk show on Saturday (Apr 11).
"However, we also expect China - Beijing - to maintain open communication channels with all of Taiwan's political parties, especially the leaders elected by the Taiwanese people, in order to avoid misunderstandings and to stabilise cross-strait relations," Greene said in Mandarin.
CNA Games
Guess Word
Crack the word, one row at a time
Buzzword
Create words using the given letters
Mini Sudoku
Tiny puzzle, mighty brain teaser
Mini Crossword
Small grid, big challenge
Word Search
Spot as many words as you can
Show More
Show Less
"We further expect China to abandon threats against Taiwan or military pressure. I believe this would help ease cross-strait tensions."
China's Taiwan Affairs Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. China views Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims.
Beijing refuses to speak to Taiwan President Lai Ching-te, saying he is a "separatist", but Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of Taiwan's largest opposition party, the Kuomintang, during what she called a mission of peace to China.
The Chinese military operates daily around Taiwan, activities that have continued while Cheng has been in China.
Taiwan's opposition, which has a majority in parliament, has stalled government military spending plans, including an extra US$40 billion special defence budget which has provisions to buy US weapons and which Washington has backed.
Despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, the US is Taiwan's most important arms supplier and international backer.
Greene said that while the US supports dialogue, that cannot replace deterrence.
"I don't think there is a conflict here, because if there is sufficient deterrence capability, it will lead to a more equal dialogue," he added.
"There are three ways to resolve cross-strait differences: the first is dialogue, the second is coercion and the third is war. So if Taiwan can have sufficient deterrence capability, it can take the option of war off the table."
Newsletter
Week in Review
Subscribe to our Chief Editor’s Week in Review
Our chief editor shares analysis and picks of the week's biggest news every Saturday.
Newsletter
Morning Brief
Subscribe to CNA’s Morning Brief
An automated curation of our top stories to start your day.
Sign up for our newsletters
Get our pick of top stories and thought-provoking articles in your inbox
Get the CNA app
Stay updated with notifications for breaking news and our best stories
Get WhatsApp alerts
Join our channel for the top reads for the day on your preferred chat app