TAIWAN THE “GREATEST RISK”
President Joe Biden, in an interview broadcast on Sunday, said he was prepared to intervene militarily if China used force in Taiwan, once again departing from decades of American ambiguity.
In a speech ahead of his talks with Blinken, Wang reiterated his anger at US support for Taiwan, which China considers part of its territory.
“The Taiwan issue is becoming the biggest risk in China-US relations. If mishandled, it risks devastating bilateral relations,” he told the Asia Society think tank.
“Just as the United States will not allow Hawaii to be stripped, China has a right to defend the unification of the country,” he said.
He denounced the US decision to “allow” the visit to Taiwan of Pelosi, who is second in the presidency after the vice-president. The Biden administration, while privately concerned about his trip, has noted that Congress is a separate branch of government.
But Wang was accommodating to Biden. The New York talks are expected to lay the groundwork for a first meeting between Biden and President Xi Jinping since becoming leaders of their two countries, likely in Bali in November on the sidelines of a Group of 20 power summit. economic.
Wang said both Biden and Xi seek to “make China-US relations work” and “avoid conflict and confrontation.”
The US Congress is a bastion of support for Taiwan, a vibrant democracy and a great technological powerhouse.
Last week, a Senate committee took the first step in supplying billions of dollars worth of arms directly to Taiwan to deter China, a step up after decades of arms sales demanded by Taipei.
Tensions have also risen over human rights, with the United States accusing the communist state of committing genocide against the predominantly Muslim Uyghur people.
Biden, like his predecessor Donald Trump, viewed a rising China as America’s main global competitor and pledged to reorient American foreign policy around the challenge.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February quickly shifted US attention to Europe, but also heightened fears that Beijing could follow through on years of threats to use force against Taiwan. .
Yet US officials have also been encouraged by the fact that China has shown some distance from Russia, nominally its close ally.
Wang met in New York with Ukraine’s foreign minister for the first time since the war and at a Security Council session on Thursday he stressed the need for a ceasefire rather than support to Russia.