U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that China is trying to «accelerate» the conquest of Taiwan, thus contravening the status quo on the island and the non-confrontation pact signed between Washington and Beijing.
According to Blinken, this historic agreement reached between both parties in 1979 has been «fundamental» so that the United States and China have not gone to war over the dominion of the island, over which Beijing considers itself sovereign.
«What has changed is this: a decision by the government in Beijing that the status quo was no longer acceptable, that they wanted to accelerate the process by which they would seek reunification,» Blinken told Bloomberg news agency.
The U.S. diplomat thus criticized China’s change of course with respect to the island and its maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait, which have led to an escalation of tensions. Beijing, however, also accuses Washington of supporting Taipei after the controversial visit of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, at the beginning of August.
For Blinken, Beijing has opted to «exert more pressure on Taiwan» and «make life more difficult» on the island in an attempt to speed up the reunification process. These statements by the Secretary of State are in line with those made just a week ago.
At that time, Blinken warned that the Chinese government was trying to take over Taiwan in a «much faster time frame» than previously thought, words that aroused some controversy but which the senior U.S. official has maintained.
Blinken’s message also follows the twice-a-decade Congress of the Communist Party of China, which this time served to reaffirm the power of President Xi Jinping.
The tension between China and the United States is experiencing a new episode in recent months, after Pelosi’s controversial visit to Taiwan, to which Beijing responded by interrupting talks with Washington and carrying out a series of military maneuvers near the strait.
At least 150 U.S. congressmen have made official trips to Taiwan over the past decade, including 34 during the current administration of Joe Biden. Such encounters are viewed with suspicion by Beijing, which considers them a threat to its sovereignty, as well as a violation of the One China law it signed in 1979 with Washington.
