OTTAWA-
On Wednesday, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly called for calm amid escalating tensions between the United States, Taiwan and China, even as she firmly placed blame for the current standoff at the feet of Beijing.
Appearing alongside his German counterpart at a press conference in Montreal, Joly said the federal government was “very concerned about China’s threatening action and economic coercion.”
The comments followed China’s announcement of large-scale military exercises around Taiwan starting Thursday in response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island, which Beijing claims it as its territory.
They also come as two Canadian warships prepare to depart for the Asia-Pacific region in the coming days for a pre-planned deployment following their participation in a large-scale military exercise led by the United States near Hawaii.
Joly told reporters that visits such as Pelosi’s are part of normal diplomacy and “cannot be used as justification for heightened tensions or as a pretext” for aggressive action.
“So in that sense, we call on China to de-escalate because we think there may be risks not only of escalating tensions, but also of destabilizing the region,” she said.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock echoed Joly’s call for calm and peaceful dialogue across the Taiwan Strait, which separates mainland China from Taiwan.
The two joined other Group of Seven foreign ministers, which include Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, in later issuing a statement highlighting guards China against “aggressive military activity in the Taiwan Strait”.
“We call on China not to unilaterally change the status quo by force in the region and resolve cross-strait disputes through peaceful means,” the statement read.
G7 ministers added there was no change in their recognition of the one China policy, which states there is only one Chinese government, does not recognize Taiwan as a country sovereign and therefore does not imply official diplomatic relations with Taipei.
“We reiterate our shared and unwavering commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and encourage all parties to remain calm, exercise restraint, act with transparency and maintain open lines of communication to avoid any misunderstanding”.
As Canada and its G7 partners sought Wednesday to avert an armed confrontation between China and Taiwan, thousands of American, Canadian and allied military personnel were wrapping up a month-long training exercise in the Pacific.
The Rim of the Pacific exercise included HMCS Vancouver and Winnipeg, which Canadian Rear Admiral Christopher Robinson says will sail west towards the Asia-Pacific region in the coming days once the exercise officially ends on Thursday. .
“One will do kind of the northern part of Asia, the other will do the southern part, and they’ll meet in the middle,” Robinson, who served as the exercise’s second-in-command, said in an interview. .
“It was really the last step to prepare them for this long deployment.”
Robinson could not say whether either ship, which will remain in the area until December, would transit the Taiwan Strait. However, he confirmed that they will be operating with allied task forces in the area.
As for the training exercise, which takes place every two years, Robinson said it involved a variety of different scenarios, from responding to a humanitarian crisis to fighting an all-out conflict.
Although the exercise did not identify any specific adversary, Robinson said, “We are very aware of the capabilities that exist. Various countries have all kinds of advanced capabilities.”
Pelosi defended her visit during a brief speech in Taipei before leaving Taiwan on Wednesday, saying she and other congressmen in her delegation had shown they would not let go of their commitment to the self-governing island.
The first US president to visit the island in more than 25 years, Pelosi courted Beijing’s ire with the trip and sparked more than a week of debate over whether it was a good idea after the leak of new.
China’s response has been vocal and manifested on several fronts: diplomatic, economic and military.
Shortly after Pelosi landed on Tuesday night, China announced live-fire drills that would have started that night, as well as four-day drills starting Thursday.
The planned Chinese drills, including live fire, are set to be the largest targeting Taiwan since 1995, when China fired missiles in a large-scale exercise to show its displeasure during a visit by Taiwan’s president. era, Lee Teng-hui, the United States.
Taiwan has denounced the drills, parts of which must enter its waters, saying they violated the island’s sovereignty.
On Wednesday, China also banned some imports from Taiwan, including citrus fruits and fish.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 3, 2022.
— With files from the Associated Press.
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