U.S. sees China continuing pressure campaign against Taiwan

The United States expects China to continue its pressure campaign against Taiwan, Daniel Kritenbrink, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, said on Wednesday, adding that Beijing's words and actions have been deeply destabilising. China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has been carrying out war games and military drills around the island this month to show its anger at a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The United States expects China to continue its pressure campaign against Taiwan, Daniel Kritenbrink, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, said on Wednesday, adding that Beijing's words and actions have been deeply destabilising.

China, which claims Taiwan as its territory, has been carrying out war games and military drills around the island this month to show its anger at a visit to Taipei by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Speaking on a conference call, Kritenbrink, the assistant secretary of state for the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs said China had used Pelosi's trip as an excuse to change the status quo.

"The PRC has used visit of the U.S. Speaker of the House of Representatives, a visit that is consistent with our one China policy and is not unprecedented, as a pretext to launch an intensified pressure campaign against Taiwan and to try to change the status quo, jeopardising peace and stability across the strait and in the broader region," he said. China's formal name is the People's Republic of China.

China will continue to pressure Taiwan, Kritenbrink added. U.S. policy towards Taiwan remains consistent and Washington does not support the island's formal independence, Kritenbrink said.

U.S. lines of communication with Beijing remain open, and the United States will continue to conduct routine naval transits through the Taiwan Strait, he added.

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