Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said that the Chinese army's moves in the Taiwan Strait do not serve the relations between the two sides and undermine peace and stability in the region, while the Chinese embassy in Washington expressed Beijing's anger at the passage of an American destroyer through the Taiwan Strait and demanded that the United States immediately stop the escalation.
The President of Taiwan was speaking during her visit to a military base in Chiayi County, in the center of the island, on Friday, during which she inspected army exercises, as she confirmed that the island can only enhance its combat capabilities to secure its national security as it faces the expansion of tyranny, as she put it.
The crossing of the American destroyer USS Chung-Ho raised the Taiwan Strait, the already growing tension between Washington and Beijing, and the Chinese ambassador in Washington called on the United States to immediately stop escalating tension and harming peace in the region, while the Chinese army announced the deployment of forces to monitor the movements of American ships in the vicinity. Taiwan.
A US Navy statement said that the goal of the guided-missile destroyer crossing the Taiwan Strait last Thursday was to show the United States' commitment to a free and open Indian and Pacific Ocean.
For his part, the US National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan, said that avoiding a war in the Taiwan Strait requires direct diplomacy with China, and this must be made a priority.
Sullivan confirmed that there was a risk of conflict, but said that through responsible oversight it could be ensured that this did not happen.
It is noteworthy that American warships, and sometimes allied countries such as Britain and Canada, passed through the strait in the past years, amid Chinese anger every time.
Beijing has often considered the intrusion of its aircraft into Taiwanese airspace as a response to what it calls provocative actions by Taipei's allies, led by the United States.
The year 2022 witnessed China sending more than 1,700 warplanes to the Taiwanese air defense zone, and Beijing carried out 101 incursions with bombers, and Taipei recorded 71 incursions for the first time with Chinese drones during the same year.
American visit
On the other hand, a spokesman for the US State Department, Ned Price, said that there are no obstacles to the visit of Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to China.
He said that the United States has always sought to manage relations with China responsibly while recognizing that they are based on competition, but the world expects both sides to cooperate as much as possible and face common challenges such as climate, health and cross-border threats.
Price added in statements during his periodic meeting with the media that Washington is seeking to manage its relations with Beijing so that competition between them does not develop into conflict.