New US envoy to Taiwan vows to help island self-defense as threats from China loom

Taipei, Taiwan — The new main envoy from the United States to Taiwan promised on Wednesday that Washington will help the autonomous island defend itself as China increases its military threats.

Raymond Greene, who assumed his new role as director of the American Institute in Taiwan on Monday, met with Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

“First and most importantly, the U.S. will strongly support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities,” Greene said. “We both have common, long-term interests in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

Lai said Taiwan would strive to maintain the status quo with Beijing, which claims the island democracy of 23 million people as its own territory, to be recovered by force if necessary.

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry also said on Wednesday that it had detected 36 Chinese military jets, including J-16 fighters and H-6 bombers, flying south and southeast of the island and heading to the Western Pacific to conduct exercises with the carrier. Chinese planes Shandong.

The US, like most countries, does not recognize Taiwan as a country. But it is the island’s main partner and is obliged by US law to provide it with the means to defend itself. Less than a month ago, the US State Department approved the sale of missiles and drones to Taiwan for around US$360 million.

In April, the Chamber of Deputies approved a $8 billion military aid package to Taiwan.

“Taiwan and the US are solid partners with each other who strive to maintain regional peace and stability,” Lai said on Wednesday.

The Chinese government did not immediately comment on the meeting.

The American Institute in Taiwan functions as a de facto embassy. Taipei also operates an Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the US and similar de facto embassies in other countries.

China has stepped up its military pressure against the island since Lai took office in May. Beijing views Lai as a separatist and refuses to speak to him.

In late June, Beijing threatened to hunt down and execute “hardcore” supporters of Taiwanese independence. In response, Taipei urged its citizens to avoid traveling to China and the semi-autonomous Chinese territories of Hong Kong and Macau.