One of the spokesmen for the White House, John Kirby, indicated Thursday that for the US the Chinese maneuvers around Taiwan as a “significant escalation” of tension in the area and decided to leave the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier near the island.
The United States sees the Chinese maneuvers around Taiwan as a “significant escalation” of tension in the area and decided to leave the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier near the island to monitor the situation, John Kirby, one of the White House spokesmen, announced Thursday.
“Beijing’s provocative actions are a significant escalation in the actions that the Chinese government has long taken to change the status quo,” Kirby said.
At the daily White House press conference, he explained that the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier and other ships that are part of its battle group plan to remain in the area and carry out air and sea operations in the Taiwan Strait during the next weeks.
However, in order not to increase tensions, the Joe Biden government has decided to postpone routine tests with intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) scheduled for this week, although they will be carried out within a “short period of time”, Kirby detailed.
According to the spokesman, Biden made that decision because the “temperature is very high” with China and he wants to demonstrate with “actions what they say in words”, that is, that he has no intention of provoking tensions with Beijing and that his nearly half-century policy toward Taiwan has not changed.
China’s military moves came less than 24 hours following a visit to Taiwan by the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi.
Kirby considered that Beijing has used Pelosi’s visit to “overreact” and increase tension with actions that he believes will continue in the coming days and weeks.
China’s exercises, which Taipei considers a “violation of its rights”, have caused the closure of maritime and air space in six areas around the island, one of them regarding 20 kilometers from the coast of Kaohsiung, the main city in southern Taiwan.
In addition, five ballistic missiles from China have fallen into waters belonging to the special economic zone (EEZ) of Japan, according to the Japanese government, which has filed a formal protest with the Chinese Executive.
The White House has insisted in recent days that the US has not changed its policy towards Taiwan despite Pelosi’s trip, the first by a US House Speaker to the island in 25 years.