The U.S. should proceed to stroll a effective line between supporting the ruling authority of Taiwan whereas not tip-toeing right into a battle with Beijing, says U.S. Sen. Ed Markey.
“There is no doubt that China is a bad actor in the region,” Markey stated Tuesday in Boston. “However our partners and allies do not want to be pawns in a competition or conflict between the United States and China. Our policies in the Indo-Pacific must focus on engagement with each individual country on its own merits, not simply through the lens of China.”
Markey, who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and chairs its East Asia, Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Subcommittee, stated his delegation was nicely obtained in Taiwan, regardless of a reported enhance of navy exercise by the Chinese Navy surrounding his go to.
Markey’s cease on the island was the second excessive profile go to by a U.S. lawmaker in current weeks, following a visit there by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Both have been met with elevated exercise on the a part of the Chinese navy.
Taiwan has been ruled independently since 1949, although Beijing has at all times maintained the island is a part of their territory. The communist regime warned each Pelosi and Markey forward of their journeys that visiting the island risked growing tensions within the area.
Markey, effictively summoning his scrappy Malden roots, stated in no unsure phrases the Chinese authorities doesn’t get to boss him round.
“No one tells me where to stand and no one tells me where to travel,” he stated. “It is imperative that we keep our relations strong with the Taiwanese (authority). But we cannot respond in kind to Chinese escalation and it is our moral responsibility to do everything we can to maintain peace.”
Markey, when requested what recourse the U.S. authorities had ought to Taiwan be invaded by Chinese troops, stated the main focus ought to be on sustaining the fragile steadiness that already exists there.
“I think our goal should be to state that we want to continue the one China policy, that we are going to continue a policy of strategic ambiguity, and that we’re going to continue a policy of strengthening the deterrence of the Taiwanese (authority) against an attack by China, while also strengthening our economic ties to the Taiwanese economy.” he stated. “If we do those things, our goal ultimately should be to avoid a military conflict between Taiwan and China.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”