However, from the Pentagon they explained that China is the greatest threat to stability in the territory, since it is carrying out a “diplomatic and military pressure campaign.”
Pentagon building. Photo: Reuters
The person in charge of Pentagon for Defense Affairs in the Indo-Pacific, Ely Ratnerhe assured this Tuesday during a hearing at the House of Representatives that the United States does not consider that there is an “imminent” risk of conflict between China and Taiwan.
“We do not believe that conflict is imminent or inevitable” because the military “deterrence” policy throughout the Taiwan Strait is “real,” the US official noted.
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Likewise, he explained that, from the US perspective, China is the biggest threat to stability in the territory, as it is carrying out a “diplomatic and military pressure campaign” against Taiwan.
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military support
To counteract it, Ratner stressed, the US has been providing military support to Taiwan with the “sole” purpose of strengthening its defense capabilities and making said deterrence strategy effective.
Chinese military exercises around Taiwan. Photo: REUTERS.
“We are focused on providing Taiwan with the self-defense capabilities it needsas well as maintaining our ability to resist any use of force that puts the security” of the territory at risk, Ratner stressed.
At the end of August, the US granted Taiwan for the first time $80 million in funds from its foreign military financing programwhich is normally accessed by sovereign and independent countries.
Taiwan and the United States. Photo: Reuters
The US aid is added to the military package worth 345 million dollars that Washington granted to Taipei a few months ago, as well as the 2,000 million in loans that the Lower House approved last year for the current fiscal year.
Taiwan is one of the main reasons for friction between the US and China, since Washington is the main supplier of weapons to the island and would defend it in the event of conflict.
The Asian giant claims sovereignty over Taiwan, a territory it considers a rebellious province since the Kuomintang nationalists retreated there in 1949 after losing the civil war against communist troops.
