The United States, Australia and Japan have called on China to immediately end its military exercises and reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. The joint statement was issued by US Secretary of State Tony Blinken, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Japanese Foreign Minister Hayashi Yoshimasa after their one-on-one meeting in Phnom Penh on the sidelines of the 55th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting.
The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. They appreciated ASEAN’s statement on the importance of de-escalating tensions in the Taiwan Strait, the statement said. Foreign ministers and foreign ministers shared the region’s desire for diplomacy to avoid the risk of miscalculation and expressed concern over recent actions by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) that seriously affect international peace and stability, including the use of a large-scale military exercises.
They condemned the PRC’s launch of ballistic missiles, five of which the Japanese government said landed in its exclusive economic zones, raising tensions and destabilizing the region. The secretary and foreign ministers urged the PRC to immediately end military exercises, the joint statement said. According to them, there is no change in China’s respective policies and basic positions towards Taiwan, Australia, Japan or the United States. Expressing their commitment to deepen the trilateral partnership between Australia, Japan and the United States to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the three diplomats emphasized that this partnership rests on an unshakable foundation of shared interests and values, including a commitment to freedom, the rule of law, human rights, sovereignty and territorial integrity, peaceful settlement of disputes without the threat or use of force, and freedom of navigation and overflight.
The Secretary and Foreign Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to support the centrality of ASEAN and the importance of Pacific Island countries as partners in the region, the statement said.Maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is vital not only to Taiwan but also to the Philippines and many other countries, Blinken told reporters during a joint press availability with Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manal. What happens in the Taiwan Strait affects the entire region. In many ways it affects the whole world because the strait, like the South China Sea, is a critical waterway. Nearly half of the global container fleet, nearly 90 percent of the world’s largest ships, will pass through the Taiwan Strait this year, he said. Since launching their missiles, Beijing has taken an irresponsible step of another kind: closing eight different areas where our two countries were able to cooperate, Blinken said.
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