The Chinese government has responded to reports that the naval official responsible for overseeing U.S. military intelligence in the Indo-Pacific region visited Taiwan recently.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a press conference on Monday that the Chinese government is firmly opposed to any form of official or military exchanges between the United States and Taiwan.
The Chinese side urges the U.S. side to recognize the highly sensitive nature of the Taiwan issue, abide by the one-China principle and the three U.S.-China joint communiques, immediately halt any form of official contacts and military ties with Taiwan, carefully handle the Taiwan issue, and China will make justifiable and necessary responses based on the development of the situation, Zhao Lijian said.
Earlier, Reuters was informed by an anonymous source familiar with the situation that Rear Admiral Michael Studeman, chief of intelligence for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, visited Taiwan on November 22. According to the U.S. Navy website, Admiral Michael Studeman is the commander of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s J2 Division, which is responsible for intelligence.
According to Taiwanese media, a U.S. C-37 landed at Taipei’s Songshan Airport on Saturday in a low-key manner and did not turn on its identification signal until it arrived in Taiwan, the same type of plane that U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Keith Krach took to Taiwan in mid-September. Taiwan media described the visit as “low-key and whirlwind”.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Saturday (Nov. 22) only confirmed the arrival of U.S. officials in Taiwan, but declined to provide details.
Taiwan’s presidential spokesman Robert Chang was asked at a press conference on Monday (Nov. 23) whether Stallman would meet with President Tsai Ing-wen, and he replied that he would not reveal who the official was, based on mutual trust between Taiwan and the U.S., and would not confirm or comment on related issues or itineraries. Taiwan’s Executive Yuan President Su Tseng-chang was asked by the media on Monday what the purpose of the U.S. official’s visit to Taiwan was. He only replied that he would report to the nation when he was ready.
Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense said in a Monday release that on the 23rd “a Communist Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft violated Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone, and the Taiwan Air Force dispatched air forces to respond, broadcasting dispersal, and tracking and monitoring air defense missiles.” On the occasion of U.S. Secretary of Health Alex Azar’s and Deputy Secretary of State Clarkey’s visits to Taiwan in August and September, respectively, China has also frequently sent PLA planes to disturb Taiwan, flying over the strait’s centerline, and even holding live-fire military exercises targeting Taiwan as a warning to the United States and Taiwan.
U.S.-China relations have deteriorated sharply in recent years, with the two countries sparring over trade, technology, national security, human rights, the South China Sea, and issues such as Hong Kong, Xinjiang, and Tibet. In Taiwan, relations between the two countries have taken a sharp turn for the worse since President Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration because she does not recognize the one-China principle and the 1992 consensus. The Trump administration has made a number of supportive moves toward Taiwan, including arms sales to Taiwan, passage of several Taiwan-Friendly bills, and dispatching high-ranking government officials to Taiwan, all of which have irked Beijing.
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