The US State Department said China should choose “diplomacy, not pressure” on Taiwan after China sent warships into the island’s waters.
“We continue to urge Beijing to stop military, diplomatic and economic pressure on Taiwan and choose constructive diplomacy,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.
“We remain committed to maintaining open communication channels to prevent the risk of any miscalculation,” Patel added.
He acknowledged the differences between the United States and China over Taiwan, but said the two powers had dealt with those differences for four decades.
This comes after a meeting in California between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the most senior US official to have met with a Taiwanese president on US soil since Washington withdrew its recognition of Taiwan in 1979.
China, which warned against the visit, stationed warships in the Taiwan Strait.
The United States described Tsai’s visit as a “transit” visit en route to and from Latin America.
“There is no reason to turn this transit, in accordance with long-standing US policy, into something else or use it as an excuse for overreaction,” Patel added.
Source: AFP.