China Demands End to US-Taiwan Military 'Collusion'

China has demanded the U.S. cease what it called military collusion with Taiwan. During a virtual meeting Thursday between the joint chiefs ... Accessibilitylinks Skiptomaincontent SkiptomainNavigation SkiptoSearch Next Close Previous Next PrintOptions: Images Multimedia EmbeddedContent Comments Cancel Print Linkhasbeencopiedtoclipboard Home UnitedStates U.S.News AllAboutAmerica SiliconValley&Technology Immigration World Africa TheAmericas EastAsia Europe MiddleEast South&CentralAsia Ukraine PressFreedom COVID-19Pandemic China Iran BroadcastPrograms FollowUs Login/Register Languages Search Search Previous Next BreakingNews ChinaNews ChinaDemandsEndtoUS-TaiwanMilitary'Collusion'  July08,20229:24PM AssociatedPress FILE-U.S.JointChiefsChairmanGen.MarkMilleyintroducesmembersofhisstafftoChina'sPeople'sLiberationArmyGen.LiZuochengduringawelcomeceremonyattheBayiBuildinginBeijing,Aug.16,2016. Share         ChinaDemandsEndtoUS-TaiwanMilitary'Collusion'  share Print beijing—  ChinahasdemandedtheU.S.ceasewhatitcalledmilitarycollusionwithTaiwan. DuringavirtualmeetingThursdaybetweenthejointchiefsofstafffromthetwocountries,GeneralLiZuochengtoldGeneralMarkMilleythatChinahad"noroomforcompromise"onissuesaffectingits"coreinterests,"whichincludeself-governingTaiwan.BeijingclaimsTaiwanasitsownterritory,tobeannexedbyforceifnecessary. "ChinademandstheU.S....ceasereversinghistory,ceaseU.S.-TaiwanmilitarycollusionandavoidimpactingChina-U.S.tiesandstabilityintheTaiwanStrait,"Lisaid. TheChinesemilitarywould"resolutelysafeguardnationalsovereigntyandterritorialintegrity,"hesaid."Ifanyonecreatesawantonprovocation,theywillbemetwiththefirmcounterattackfromtheChinesepeople." Suchlanguageisfairlyroutine,andLiwasalsoquotedinaDefenseMinistrynewsreleasesayingChinahopedto"furtherstrengthendialogue,handlerisksandpromotecooperation,ratherthandeliberatelycreatingconfrontation,provokingincidentsandbecomingmutuallyexclusive." ChinaroutinelyflieswarplanesnearTaiwanasareminderofitsthreattoattack,andtheisland'sDefenseMinistrysaidChineseairforceaircraftcrossedthemiddlelineoftheTaiwanStraitdividingthetwosidesonFridaymorning.Itsaidmeasuresweretakeninresponse,includingthescramblingofTaiwanesejets. Such"provocativebehavior…hasseriouslydamagedregionalpeaceandstability,"theministrysaid. Askedabouttheincident,aChineseForeignMinistryspokespersonsaid,"ThisexercisebyChinaisdirectedatexternalinterferenceandseparatistTaiwanindependenceforces." FILE-China'sDefenseMinisterWeiFenghespeaksataplenarysessionduringthe19thInternationalInstituteforStrategicStudiesShangri-laDialogue,Asia'sannualdefenseandsecurityforum,inSingapore,June12,2022. ThemeetingbetweenLiandMilleyfollowedfierycommentsbyChineseDefenseMinisterWeiFengheataregionalsecurityconferencelastmonththatwasalsoattendedbyU.S.SecretaryofDefenseLloydAustin. WeiaccusedtheUnitedStatesoftryingtohijackthesupportofcountriesintheAsia-PacificregiontoturnthemagainstBeijing,sayingWashingtonisseekingtoadvanceitsowninterests"undertheguiseofmultilateralism." AtthesamemeetinginSingapore,AustinsaidChinawascausinginstabilitywithitsclaimtoTaiwananditsincreasedmilitaryactivityinthearea. AndinMay,U.S.SecretaryofStateAntonyBlinkencalledChinathe"mostseriouslong-termchallengetotheinternationalorder"fortheUnitedStates,withitsclaimstoTaiwanandeffortstodominatethestrategicSouthChinaSea,promptinganangryresponsefromBeijing. TheU.S.anditsallieshaverespondedwithwhattheyterm"freedomofnavigation"patrolsintheSouthChinaSea,alsopromptingangryresponsesfromBeijing. DespitenothavingformaldiplomaticrelationsindeferencetoBeijing,WashingtonremainsTaiwan'schiefallyandsupplierofdefenseweapons.U.S.lawrequiresthegovernmenttotreatallthreatstotheislandasmattersof"graveconcern,"althoughitremainsambiguousonwhethertheU.S.militarywoulddefendTaiwanifitwereattackedbyChina. ThelatestroundofheatedrhetoriccameaheadofameetingbetweenBlinkenandhisChinesecounterpart,WangYi,onSaturdayatagatheringofforeignministersfromtheG-20blocofindustrializednationsinIndonesiathatisexpectedtobeovershadowedbydisagreementsoverRussia'sinvasionofUkraine. AlongwithTaiwanandtheSouthChinaSea,WashingtonandBeijingarealsoatoddsovertrade,humanrightsandChina'spoliciesinTibetandtowardmainlyMuslimTurkicminoritiesinthenorthwesternregionofXinjiang. Related ChinaTestsNewPhilippinesGovernmentforChancetoImproveRelations;Analysts UyghurNewsRecap:July1-8,2022 HomelandSecurityAgentsIndictedinAllegedChineseEfforttoSpyinUS  US,UKOfficialsRaiseFreshAlarmsAboutChineseEspionage Recommended Newseries 52Documentary Backtotop XS SM MD LG