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U.S. will meet security commitments to Taiwan, region: Pentagon

ROC Central News Agency

01/29/2021 05:05 PM

Washington, Jan. 28 (CNA) The United States will continue to fulfill its commitments to Taiwan's self-defense needs and to the security of the Indo-Pacific region, U.S. Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said Thursday.

The comments by the U.S. official came after Chinese defense department spokesman Wu Qian (吳謙) defended Beijing's recent stepping up of military activities in the Taiwan Strait and warned Taiwan that "independence means war."

Asked to respond during a press conference, Kirby said the comments were "unfortunate and certainly not commensurate with our intention to meet our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act."

The Department of Defense "sees no reason why tensions over Taiwan need to lead to anything like confrontation," he said.

On the broader issue of Taiwan, "nothing has changed" on the Pentagon's commitments to the Taiwan Relations Act and the Three Communiqués, Kirby said, citing remarks made by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin during his confirmation hearing.

"This is something that has been supported in a bipartisan way for decades and the Department of Defense under (Austin's) leadership will continue that same support for its obligations to Taiwan's self-defense," he said.

Asked if the U.S. was ready and able to defend Taiwan against a potential Chinese invasion, Kirby dismissed the question as "hypothetical," but said the U.S. military "remains ready in all respects to meet our security commitments in the region."

The Taiwan Relations Act was enacted in 1979 to maintain commercial, cultural and other unofficial relations between the U.S. and Taiwan after Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

The TRA also requires the U.S. "to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character."

The Three Communiqués are a collection of joint statements made by the U.S. and Chinese governments between 1972 and 1982 in which the U.S. "acknowledges" China's position on Taiwan, among other things.

However, the word used in the Chinese version of the text (承認 chéngrèn) could also be interpreted as "to accept," which has led to ambiguity, as both texts are considered authoritative.

(By Stacy Hsu and Matthew Mazzetta)

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