No justification for China’s ‘overreaction’ to Pelosi’s Taiwan trip: Blinken

ISTANBUL (AA) – Calling China’s military response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan an “overreaction,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said there is “no justification” for Beijing’s actions.

“The fact is that the speaker’s visit was peaceful. There is no justification to this extreme, disproportionate and escalatory military response,” Blinken told a news conference in Cambodia where he was attending the ASEAN summit.

Blinken asserted that the US does “not support Taiwan’s independence.”

Beijing has launched massive military exercises surrounding Taiwan after Pelosi visited the self-ruled island earlier this week, against the warnings of China which sees it as its “breakaway province.”

“Nothing has changed about our one-China policy which is guided by Taiwan Relations Act, Three Communiques, and the six assurances,” Blinken noted, saying: “We do not want unilateral changes to the status quo from either side.”

The US wants a peaceful resolution to cross-Strait disputes, not by force, he said.

Chinese missiles landing in Japan’s exclusive economic zones is a “significant escalation,” Blinken said, adding that the US “will fly, sail, and operate wherever international law applies and will continue maritime transit through Taiwan Strait.”

He stressed that the US does “not seek and will not provoke a crisis” but assured Washington’s support to its allies in the region.

Blinken, however, added that the Chinese military response to Pelosi’s visit may “destabilize the wider region.”

On the situation in Myanmar, Blinken urged humanitarian access to the country ruled by a military junta since last year.

He also called for global support against endorsing elections planned by the junta next year. “They will not be fair and free under current situation,” he added.