Beijing, Sketsa.id – China on Monday delivered a sharp rebuke to the United States, vowing to “resolutely safeguard its sovereignty” after Washington released a new National Security Strategy that explicitly prioritizes preventing conflict with Beijing over Taiwan.
“Taiwan is the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing. “China will never tolerate external interference.”
The strongly worded statement came in response to the Biden administration’s updated National Security Strategy, published last Friday, which describes maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as a core U.S. interest and pledges to deepen military cooperation with allies to deter potential Chinese aggression.
Guo urged the United States to “handle the Taiwan issue with extreme caution” and to stop “indulging and supporting ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”
The timing is particularly sensitive: just days earlier, China staged its largest maritime show of force to date in East Asian waters, deploying dozens of People’s Liberation Army Navy vessels and China Coast Guard ships in what analysts described as a clear signal to both Taipei and Washington.
Warm Welcome in Taipei
In stark contrast, Taiwanese leaders greeted the U.S. document with enthusiasm.
“Grateful that the U.S. National Security Strategy prioritizes deterring conflict over Taiwan,” President Lai Ching-te wrote on X on Saturday.
Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters the same day that the strategy reaffirmed Washington’s view that peace in the Indo-Pacific remains its highest priority. He added that the U.S. is actively encouraging regional partners to build “effective collective deterrence.”
Koo stressed that Taiwan itself must do more. President Lai has set an ambitious target of raising defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2030. Last month, his administration announced an additional $40 billion in defense funding to be spread across 2026–2033.
Beijing, which views Taiwan as a breakaway province, has never renounced the use of force to achieve reunification. The island has maintained a separate, democratically elected government since 1949. Taipei’s leadership firmly rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claim, asserting that Taiwan’s future must be decided by its 23 million people.
The latest exchange underscores the fragile state of U.S.-China relations, with Taiwan remaining the most dangerous flashpoint between the world’s two largest economies.
While both sides say they want stable ties, neither shows signs of backing down from their red lines. (*)
