On the eve of Deputy Secretary Krach’s visit to Taiwan, a Pentagon official said he did not want to predict what China would do this time, but he expected a steady increase in Chinese pressure on Taiwan, whether by sending aircraft across the median line in the Taiwan Sea, an increased naval presence, or diplomatic pressure, and that the United States, like Taiwan, would maintain a steady presence to ensure that Taiwan has sufficient weapons to defend itself while maintaining U.S. support for regional security and stability.
The U.S. State Department formally announced Wednesday (September 16) that Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Keith Krach will visit Taiwan to participate in a memorial service for former Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui on September 19.
State Department spokesman Ortegaz tweeted at noon, “Under Secretary Krach is already on his way to Taiwan to attend the funeral service for former President Lee Teng-hui. As Taiwan’s first democratically elected president, Lee Teng-hui led Taiwan into a new era of democracy, economic prosperity, openness, and the rule of law.”
Klatsch is the highest-ranking State Department official to visit Taiwan since the U.S.-Taiwan diplomatic relations were severed in 1979. Previously, Taiwanese media had repeatedly reported that Cratcher would be in Taiwan to host the U.S.-Taiwan Economic and Commercial Dialogue, but the State Department statement made no mention of this.
Last month, U.S. Secretary of Health Alex Azar, the highest-ranking U.S. Cabinet-level official to visit Taiwan since 1979, visited Taiwan, and Beijing authorities expressed strong protest.
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin warned against Klatsch’s visit to Taiwan, expressing firm opposition to official U.S.-Taiwan exchanges and demanding that the U.S. “stop all forms of official U.S.-Taiwan exchanges.
On Wednesday, in a video message on Day 2 of the annual meeting of the Center for Global Taiwan Studies, David Helvey, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, was asked by VOA whether he expected China to express displeasure with Klatsch’s visit to Taiwan by making military moves similar to those made during Azhar’s visit, and what the U.S. defense posture was against actions that could lead to heightened tensions.
David Haigh replied: “I don’t want to predict what China might do, but I think it’s clear that China has been steadily increasing pressure on Taiwan, whether it’s sending aircraft across the median line, increasing its naval presence, or applying pressure from both sides of Taiwan, or pressure in the diplomatic space to try to limit Taiwan’s international space, and I fully expect that kind of pressure to continue, it seems to be a shape and trajectory.”
“We will maintain a stable presence, just as Taiwan is maintaining a stable presence, acting to preserve its own space, its own security. What we will do is continue our long-standing and consistent policy, including our interaction with Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act and our security obligations, to ensure that Taiwan has access to the weapons they are fighting for self-defense, and we will maintain a posture necessary to support security, stability, and deterrence.”
In his speech, David also noted that Beijing’s intimidation of Taiwan is part of a broader expansion of its military power in the Indo-Pacific region, consistent with the Chinese Communist Party’s goal of pursuing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, against a backdrop where Beijing’s continued pressure on Taiwan has undermined the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and where the U.S. presence is in furtherance of its interests and commitments, a presence that conveys its commitment to ensuring regional peace and stability.
In response to Klatsch’s visit to Taiwan, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang said at a regular press conference in Beijing on Wednesday that the Taiwan issue is China’s internal affair and will not allow outside forces to interfere. China demanded that the U.S. cease any form of official contact with Taiwan and that the DPP authorities “develop official relations with the U.S. under the guise of ‘economic and commercial’, which will only further allow the U.S. to dominate, impact the island’s market and harm the economic and livelihood interests of Taiwan compatriots. “
The PLA has recently made several incursions into Taiwan’s southwestern airspace in the Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), and both Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of National Defense held press conferences to strongly condemn the incursions and call China’s military actions “serious provocations. ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist activities” is also “a necessary action in response to the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and the need to safeguard national sovereignty.”
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