The U.S. State Department says that “sufficient resources and capabilities” are in place to ensure peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as Beijing staged war games around Taiwan for a third day.
“We are comfortable and confident that we have in place sufficient resources and capabilities in the region to ensure peace and stability and to meet our national security commitments,” a State Department spokesperson was cited as saying by Reuters on April 8, as China’s state media reported that the military was conducting simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on Taiwan and its surrounds.
The United States has urged restraint while it keeps its communication channels open with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the spokesperson said, adding that Washington is “closely monitoring” the CCP’s actions.
Taiwan’s military detected about 70 Chinese aircraft and 11 naval vessels around the island on April 10, on the third day of China’s military drills, with 35 to 45 warplanes, including eight SU-30 fighter jets, spotted crossing the Taiwan Strait’s median line and southwest of Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone numerous times.
But it emphasized that Taiwan won’t seek to escalate conflicts or cause disputes.
Beijing sent 42 aircraft and eight ships near Taiwan on April 8 and 71 aircraft and nine ships on April 9, as the PLA simulated precision strikes against the self-ruled democratic island.
“Under the unified command of the theatre joint operations command center, multiple types of units carried out simulated joint precision strikes on key targets on Taiwan island and the surrounding sea areas, and continue to maintain an offensive posture around the island,” Chinese state television reported.
The CCP had strongly opposed any form of official interaction and contact between U.S. and Taiwanese officials and threatened to take “resolute countermeasures” if Tsai and McCarthy met.
A PLA spokesperson said the drills were meant to give “a serious warning against the Taiwan independence separatist forces colluding with external forces” and “safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The State Department had also clarified that transits by high-level Taiwanese authorities in the United States aren’t visits, but rather “private and unofficial.”
“As we have said, there is no reason for Beijing to turn this transit–which was consistent with longstanding US practice and policy–into something it is not or use it as a pretext to overreact,” the spokesperson said.
US Lawmaker Concerned About Possible Blockade
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told Fox News on April 9 said that the CCP could be preparing for a blockade of Taiwan, and urged the United States to quickly train Taiwanese forces “so they can fight like Ukrainians,” send F-16 jets to the island, install nuclear-tipped missiles in its submarines, and dispatch U.S. troops to defend the island.
Chinese state media added on April 8 that the PLA had staged drills with its aircraft, including nuclear-capable H-6 bombers armed with live missiles, and its warships on forming “a multidirectional island-encompassing blockade situation.”
While having no formal diplomatic ties to Taiwan, the United States is a major arms supplier to the island. The United States maintains a “one China” policy, which formally recognizes—but doesn’t endorse—the CCP’s position on the matter.
Although the United States has sworn not to unilaterally champion the island’s independence, it’s legally bound by the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 to provide Taiwan with the arms necessary for its self-defense.
