Taiwan will boost military exchanges with the United States to curb “authoritarian expansionism,” President Tsai Ing-wen said Tuesday after meeting with visiting US lawmakers.
The five-day US Congressional visit comes after a top US defense official reportedly made a rare and highly secretive stopover to the self-ruled island as Washington-Beijing tensions flared over alleged Chinese spy balloons.
“Taiwan and the United States continue to bolster military exchanges,” Tsai said after convening with the US delegation at her office in Taipei.
“Going forward, Taiwan will cooperate even more actively with the United States and other democratic partners to confront such global challenges as authoritarian expansionism and climate change.”
Tsai did not provide further details on what the future exchanges might entail.
Washington diplomatically recognises Beijing over Taipei, but is the self-governing island’s most important international benefactor and supports Taiwan’s right to decide its own future.
Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed toseize it one day, opposes any official exchanges with the democracy and has reacted with anger to a flurry of trips to the island by US politicians in recent years.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs said the country remains committed to diplomacy in resolving territorial disputes over the West Philippine Sea, which is part of the also highly-contested South China Sea, despite past and recent actions by China that are inconsistent with international law.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo said “no conflict will ever be resolved when even the most basic norms are being violated with impunity.”
After meeting with German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock in Berlinon Monday, Manalo said the Philippines maintains the need for dialogue with other nations in addressing South China Sea-related disputes.
“This, in spite of recent actions or even actions which have been going on for some time which are inconsistent with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 2002 Declaration on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea,” he said in a press conference. AFP with Rey Requejo
With Germany’s support for the Philippines in upholding the UNCLOS and the negotiations on the sea conduct, Manalo said “the only way to preserve peace and security is to respect the rule of law.”
During his trip to Germany, Manalo also spoke at a high-level security conference where he lamented the daily incidents of harassment experienced by Filipinos in the West Philippine Sea as well as the
reclamation activities in the area, “which in many cases have been depriving the Philippines of the use of our exclusive economic zone (EEZ).”