Taiwan’s foreign ministry thanks U.S. for maintaining security in Taiwan Strait

August 13, 2022 - 2:18 PM
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Pedestrians wait at an intersection near a screen showing footage of Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) aircraft during an evening news programme, in Beijing, China August 2, 2022. (Reuters/Tingshu Wang)

Taiwan’s foreign ministry expressed its “sincere gratitude” towards the United States for taking “concrete actions” to maintain security and peace in the Taiwan Strait and the region in a statement on Saturday.

The statement came in response to comments from U.S. Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell, who said on Friday that China “overreacted” to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan.

The foreign ministry statement said that China’s “unprovoked military and economy intimidation” had “further strengthened the unity and resilience of the global democratic camp”.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Thursday that China’s threat of force is undiminished, even though Beijing’s largest- ever military drills around the island following Pelosi’s visit last week seemed to be scaling down.

—Reporting by David Kirton; Editing by Tom Hogue and Michael Perry