White House National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien had during a tour of the region on Monday pledged to support the Philippines and Vietnam — both of which have maritime disputes with China — and stressed Washington’s commitment to self-ruled Taiwan.
Later in the day, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines said the remarks by O’Brien showed his tour was meant to sow discord.
“It shows that his visit to this region is not to promote regional peace and stability, but to create chaos in the region in order to seek selfish interests of the US,” the Chinese Embassy said in a statement.
It called on Washington to “stop inciting confrontation” in the South China Sea and “stop making irresponsible remarks on the Taiwan and Hong Kong issues, which are purely China’s internal affairs.”
“Facts have proved that the US is the biggest driver of the militarization [of the region],” the statement said, describing America as “the most dangerous external factor” in the South China Sea.
The US has repeatedly dispatched warships and warplanes near Chinese territorial waters in the strategic South China Sea to exercise what it claims is its “right” to “freedom of navigation” far from its own borders.
O’Brien also warned Beijing that it would face a “backlash” if it tried to use military force to intimidate Taiwan, a self-ruled island territory subject to Chinese sovereignty.
Also in recent days, a senior US naval official, with responsibility for military intelligence in the Asia Pacific, paid a secret visit to Taiwan in an apparent last-ditch effort by the outgoing US President Donald Trump administration to further enhance ties with the self-ruled island.
China has constantly warned against any official exchanges between Washington and Taipei.
Under the “One China” policy, nearly all world countries — including the US — recognize Beijing’s sovereignty over Taiwan, but under the Trump administration, Washington has been courting Taiwan in an attempt to annoy Beijing.
In recent controversial remarks, hawkish US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo even refused to acknowledge Beijing’s sovereignty over Taiwan, saying that the island “has not been a part of China.”
China in response has warned Washington of “resolute counterattack” measures, if it kept undermining Beijing’s core interests.
The US also continues to remain the island’s largest weapons supplier and an avid backer of Taiwan’s secessionist president Tsai Ing-wen, which signed a 62-billion-dollar deal earlier this year to purchase F-16 fighter jets from the US.
The Trump administration has also been lately pushing for the sale of seven large packages of weapons to Taiwan. The packages, including long-range air-to-ground missiles and highly advanced drones, would be one of the largest weapons sales to the self-ruled island in recent years.
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