'China No Longer Comfortable With Status Quo In Taiwan', Says US State Secretary Blinken

According to Antony Blinken, the status quo has been "vital" to the US because it maintains peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

New Delhi: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday expressed concern over Beijing's intentions over Taipei and said that China is 'no longer comfortable' with the status quo in Taiwan. 

Blinken said that the world is concerned about Taiwan now because it saw what happened to Hong Kong in the past few years, a White House statement read. He spoke during a conversation with the University of Chicago Institute of Politics Founding Director David Axelrod.

Blinken expressed concern about Taiwan, noting Beijing's intensifying efforts to isolate the country and the military drills it conducted near it in August. "On Taiwan, what we’ve seen over the last few years is, I think, China make a decision that it was no longer comfortable with the status quo, a status quo that had prevailed for decades that had actually been successful in terms of the relationship between our countries and managing what is a difficult situation," he said.

According to him, the status quo has been "vital" to the US because it maintains peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. "Status quo has worked and it’s vital to what’s important to us, which is maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," Blinken added.

Blinken said it's "a leading competitor" that does not share the US vision for the world, adding, "but competition is one thing, conflict is another, and it's strongly in our interest to make sure that even as we compete very, very vigorously, we avoid competition veering into conflict."

"Gutting of China's so-called one country, two systems has had a profound effect not only for people in Hong Kong but beyond and is the reason why the world is so concerned about Taiwan," the US Secretary said.

The duo discussed a wide range of issues, including the United States' "re-engagement" with other countries, competition with growing powers Russia and China, COVID-19, and climate change, according to the statement.

Blinken is expected to visit Beijing in early February, in the first trip by a US secretary of state to the rising Asian power since October 2018, news agency ANI reported.

The trip was decided after US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November held talks in Bali, Indonesia, on wide-ranging friction between the world's two largest economic powers.