Anthony Blinken on Chinese incursions in Taiwan: Always possibility of miscalculation

Noting the threat posed by increasing Chinese incursion into Taiwan's air defence identification zone (ADIZ), US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken on Wednesday said that there is always the possibility of miscalculation, miscommunication, and that's dangerous.

"Actions we've seen by China are provocative and potentially destabilizing. So what I hope is that these actions will cease because there is always the possibility of miscalculation, of miscommunication, and that's a - that's dangerous," in an interview with Francine Lacqua of Bloomberg, as quoted by the State Department.

Blinken, who is in Paris to attend Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), said that no one should take any unilateral actions that change the status quo by force.

"Provocative actions go in exactly the wrong direction. And it's very important that no one take any unilateral actions that change the status quo by force, and so we really need to see China cease some of the actions that it's taken because they are potentially a source of instability, not stability," he said.

This statement comes China flew a record fighter aircraft towards Taiwan, in the past week, in continuation of sustained aggressive military posturing against the self-ruled island.

The United States has termed China's recent military activity near Taiwan "provocative" and "strongly urged" Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure and coercion against the island.

"We remain concerned by the People's Republic of China's provocative military activity near Taiwan, which is destabilizing, risk miscalculations and undermines regional peace and stability," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday during a presser.

Taiwan has recorded more than 600 Chinese sorties into its ADIZ this year. Chinese military aircraft started flying into Taiwan's ADIZ in March 2019. There were 380 incursions in the southwest corner of Taiwan's ADIZ, Taiwan News reported.

Since mid-September of last year, Beijing has stepped up its grey-zone tactics by regularly sending planes into Taiwan's ADIZ, with most instances occurring in the southwest corner of the zone and usually consisting of one to three slow-flying turboprop planes.

Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan despite the island's self-governance for more than seven decades.

Taipei has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China continues to threaten with war.

(ANI)

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