By Caribbean News Global 
TAIWAN / USA – In a statement to PRC military drills near Taiwan, US Department of State said that it is seriously concerned by the People’s Liberation Army joint military drills in the Taiwan Strait and around Taiwan, and called the PRC response with military provocations to a routine annual speech is unwarranted and risks escalation.
The United States called on the PRC to act with restraint and to avoid any further actions that may undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the broader region, which is essential to regional peace and prosperity and a matter of international concern. We continue to monitor PRC activities and coordinate with allies and partners regarding our shared concerns.
“The United States remains committed to its longstanding one-China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three Joint Communiqués, and the Six Assurances,” the US State Department press statement concluded.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken last week publicly emphasized that Taiwan’s National Day address was a routine activity and that China should not use the event as a pretext for engaging in any provocative actions.
President Lai Ching-te in his National Day address, once again expressed goodwill to China and called for it to act responsibly and work with Taiwan to maintain the prevailing state of peace, stability, and prosperity. However, China remains determined to intimidate the people of Taiwan through military exercises and is attempting to threaten Taiwan’s democracy and unilaterally disrupt the status quo of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and throughout the region.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) solemnly denounced China and urges it to neither use false pretexts aimed at justifying disagreement and strife nor become a troublemaker that undermines regional peace and stability.
China on October 14 launched its so-called Joint Sword-2024B military drill around Taiwan, once again challenging the rules-based international order and gravely undermining regional peace and stability.
MOFA strongly condemned China and urged it to pull back and immediately cease its military provocations.
In a press release Monday, MOFA conveyed its sincere appreciation to the United States for expressing its serious concerns and reaffirming its security commitments to Taiwan, and for once again focusing attention on the PLA as it uses a routine speech to justify launching military acts of harassment against Taiwan.
MOFA emphasizes that:
“China’s use of president Lai Ching-te’s National Day address as a pretext for applying military pressure on Taiwan and issuing a slew of threatening remarks is a grave violation of the fundamental spirit of the United Nations Charter,” adding. “Such actions will not only fail to gain the endorsement of the international community, but rather prompt countries to express heightened concern over China’s provocative behaviour that disrupts the status quo.”
MOFA called on like-minded allies and partners to “jointly press China to exercise self-restraint and to cease its intimidation of Taiwan” and all activities that undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and throughout the region.
MOFA also called on nations around the world to recognize China’s authoritarian and expansionist nature, take concrete actions “to support democratic Taiwan at this critical moment, unite in defending the values of freedom and democracy, and safeguard the rules-based international order, as well as the freedom, openness, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region.”
