How Could China Respond to Looming Deployment of US Marines to Taiwan Embassy?
- How Could China Respond to Looming Deployment of US Marines to Taiwan Embassy?
by https://sputniknews.com/
State Department is considering deploying US Marines to the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US Embassy in this South Asian country. Yang Xiyu, senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies think tank, told Sputnik that if taken, the step will be fraught with far-reaching regional repercussions.
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Washington and Taipei do not have official diplomatic relations, so the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) actually represents US interests in the island. The AIT’s activities in Taiwan are informal and the security of the building is provided by the Taiwanese.
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But in February, Stephen Young, former head of the AIT’s Taipei office, said that US Marines will be deployed to a new AIT compound in Taipei to safeguard US personnel there.
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Speaking to Sputnik, Yang Xiyu, senior fellow at the China Institute of International Studies, a think tank, pointed out that if US military personnel are stationed at the AIT, the move will “inevitably cause double consequences.”
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“First and foremost, the Taiwan issue is the most sensitive and contentious problem in Sino-US relations. Any actions to ignore the one-China principle will be a serious blow to bilateral ties. If the US Marines are deployed to the AIT, it will further deepen negative factors in relations between Beijing and Washington,” Yang underscored.
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He also referred to efforts by “Taiwan separatists” who are spending hefty sums and trying to encourage the US Congress “to raise the level of US-Taiwan relations”.
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