TAIPEI, Taiwan — The top US envoy to Taiwan said on Wednesday that American support for the island is “unwavering, principled and bipartisan,” and said Washington will continue to honor its commitments to ensure the island can defend itself against threats from China.
Raymond F. Greene’s comments on Wednesday come at a time of uncertainty about China’s intentions to the island it claims as its own territory — which it must take by force if necessary — and amid conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East that threaten to further embroil the US.
Greene made it clear that Taiwan was a top priority, especially the safety of shipping in the crucial Taiwan Strait that separates the island from China.
The US will “continue to maintain the capacity to resist any use of force or other forms of coercion against Taiwan,” Greene said, referring to the Taiwan Relations Act that guaranteed such support after the rupture of formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, when Washington normalized relations with the communist government in Beijing.
Greene said the executive branch has notified Congress of approximately $38.4 billion in foreign military sales to Taiwan since 2010, including more than $6.4 billion under the Biden administration, along with the equivalent of $345 million in transfers of weapons from existing U.S. stockpiles.
Upgraded and new F-16 fighter jets, Abrams tanks and other equipment have now arrived or are in the works, as Taiwan expands production of domestic weapons including submarines, anti-landing missiles and surface-to-air missiles.
Greene, a senior U.S. diplomat, arrived two months ago to serve as director of the American Institute in Taiwan, making him America’s de facto ambassador to the island of 23.5 million that has long had strong commercial, cultural and political ties with the U.S.
Taiwan was a hot topic when US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan visited China last week, with the aim of keeping communication open in a relationship that has become increasingly tense in recent years.
Sullivan, on his first trip to China as President Joe Biden’s top adviser on national security issues, met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Foreign Minister Wang Yi and a senior general from the Central Military Commission.
Danny Russel, vice president of the Asia Society Policy Institute in New York and a member of the National Security Council in the Obama administration, said the meeting between Sullivan and Xi was particularly important because Sullivan was seen by Chinese leaders as “a direct extension” of the US president and Sullivan’s message was seen as “coming directly from (President Joe) Biden.”
Sullivan also met last week with one of China’s vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, Gen. Zhang Youxia — a rare encounter with a visiting U.S. official.
“China demands that the United States end US-Taiwan military cooperation, stop arming Taiwan, and stop spreading false stories about Taiwan,” a statement from China’s Defense Ministry said, without elaborating on the content of the false stories.
A White House statement said the two “recognized the progress in sustained, regular military communications over the past 10 months.” On Taiwan, the U.S. statement said only that Sullivan had emphasized the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
China suspended communications between the two militaries after senior US lawmaker and then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022. Talks only gradually resumed more than a year later after Xi and Biden meet outside San Francisco in november.
The U.S. has long cheered Taiwan’s vibrant democracy, which stands in stark contrast to China’s authoritarian state. But Greene said Washington would not comment on allegations of corruption and abuse of power that have surrounded former Taipei Mayor and presidential candidate Ko Wen-je in recent months.