US says China is ‘manufacturing’ crisis
China’s actions in the Taiwan Strait are “fabricated” and “completely unnecessary,” Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said during a Pentagon news conference on Monday.
Kahl said the US has not changed its support for the One China policy, nor do US officials believe China will take Taiwan militarily in the coming years.
“We do not support China using its military actions against Taiwan. We do not support Taiwan towards independence. Our policy has not changed its support for the status quo. China’s policy is what has changed,” Kahl said, adding that China is trying to “slice the salami into a new status quo.”
China is “trying to coerce” both Taiwan and the international community, Kahl said.
“All I’m going to say is we’re not going to take the bait and it’s not going to work,” he said. “It’s a manufactured crisis. That doesn’t mean we have to play it. I think it would only play into Beijing’s favor.”
Kahl was asked several times about the developing situation between China and Taiwan during Monday’s briefing. He reiterated the Defense Department’s support for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week, which sparked recent days of Chinese military exercises in the Taiwan Strait.
China was “clearly” not “happy” with Pelosi’s visit, Kahl said, but “nothing about the visit changed one iota of the US government’s policy toward Taiwan or toward China.”
Kahl said China’s reaction to Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan was not surprising. Pelosi “had every right” to go to Taiwan, Kahl said, adding that the Defense Department was committed to providing Pelosi with “necessary support” once she confirmed the trip was taking place.
After Pelosi traveled to Taiwan, Kahl said China conducted missile drills and other live-fire demonstrations. China also boosted its air and naval military activities in the strait, he said.
Kahl declined to say whether Chinese planes or missiles have flown over Taiwan, saying those answers depended on the lock and trajectory of each object and that he did not “have the physics” in front of him at the time.