Following a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Secretary of State Antony Blinked claimed, “We do not support Taiwan independence.”
“We remain opposed to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We continue to expect the peaceful resolution of cross strait differences,” Blinken said during a press conference.
“We remain committed to continuing our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act including making sure Taiwan has the ability to defend itself,” he continued.
“At the same time, we and many others have deep concerns about some of the provocative actions that China has taken in recent years going back to 2016,” Blinken noted.
“And the reason that this is a concern for so many countries, not just the United States, is that were there to be a crisis over Taiwan, the likelihood is that could produce an economic crisis that could affect quite literally the entire world.”
Blinked continued, “Fifty percent of commercial container traffic goes through the Taiwan Strait every day. Seventy percent of semiconductors are manufactured in Taiwan. If as a result of a crisis that was taken offline, it would have dramatic consequences for virtually every country around the world.”
Reporting from Fox News:
China considers self-ruling Taiwan its own territory and has raised the prospect of annexing it by force. The U.S. maintains informal relations and defense ties with Taiwan even as it recognizes Beijing as the government of China. "We have no illusions about the challenges of this relationship. There are many issues on which we profoundly and even vehemently disagree," Blinken added. "The United States has a long history of successfully managing complicated relationships through diplomacy."
