The United States is consulting with its ally Australia to develop a “strategic plan” for a joint response in the event of war in the Taiwan Strait, the top U.S. diplomat in Australia said.
The announcement was made Thursday (April 1) by Michael Goldman, chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy in Canberra, at a conference held at the Australian National University.
U.S. Ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse left in January, and Goldman is temporarily in charge of the embassy until a new ambassador takes office.
Goldman said the plan involves many related emergencies, “of which the Taiwan issue is obviously an important part.”
He said the U.S. side is very concerned about the various risks facing Taiwan and is responding to all possible actions that Beijing could take against Taiwan, such as military blockades, cyber attacks, missile attacks and other military interventions.
Goldman said, “We are committed to working together as allies to not just enable our military to operate with each other, to operate together, but to develop a common strategic plan.”
Bloomberg said Australia prides itself on having been involved in nearly every major international conflict the United States has encountered in the past half century. However, Australia has so far made no official statement on the issue of a possible military conflict in the Taiwan Strait.
The United States itself has made no clear commitment as to whether it would necessarily step in to protect Taiwan in the event of a Communist military reunification with Taiwan. The U.S. public position has been simply to agree to help Taiwan maintain the capabilities it needs for its own defense.
In recent years, U.S.-Taiwan relations have deepened, and Chinese Communist Party forces have conducted an increasing number of military exercises in areas near Taiwan. Beijing insists that Taiwan is part of Chinese territory, and Taiwan has long considered itself a de facto sovereign and independent state.
Goldman’s new comments on Taiwan could provoke Beijing’s anger. In recent times, Beijing has responded “wolfishly” to almost all criticism from the West, whether it is the forced labor issue in Xinjiang or the crackdown on Hong Kong’s pro-democracy faction, or the military intimidation of Taiwan. Xi has dismissed these issues as China’s “internal affairs” and has lashed out at foreign companies that take sides on them.
Beijing has retaliated against Australia with wide-ranging trade retaliation since Australian Prime Minister Morrison called last April for an independent international investigation into the source of the Wuhan virus. U.S. Secretary of State John Blinken said this week that Beijing was “clearly involved” in the WHO’s report on the traceability of the virus. The WHO report pandered to Beijing’s position on the traceability of the virus.
Campbell, coordinator for Asian affairs at the National Security Council, told the media last month that U.S.-China relations will not improve until the Chinese Communist Party stops retaliating against Australia. Campbell said that Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam and other Asian countries have all been targeted by the Chinese Communist Party in retaliation.
Echoing Campbell, Goldman noted, “We really can’t expect a substantial improvement in our relationship with the Chinese Communist Party when the Communist Party is kidnapping our partners’ economies.”
The highest-ranking U.S. diplomat currently in Australia praised Australia’s bravery in the face of the CCP’s “economic coercion. He said, “We have high respect for what Australia has done in the last year, such as calling for a traceability investigation of the virus and not caving in to economic coercion by the Chinese Communist Party. I would say that in the process, your economy has shown a market resilience that far exceeds what you might have originally estimated.”
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