Sydney, April 1, (dpa/GNA) – The United States and Australia are working on a “range of contingencies” in case of military conflict with China over its policies toward Taiwan, according to a top US diplomat in Canberra.
In an interview with the The Australian National University’s (ANU) national security podcast on Thursday, the most senior US diplomat in Australia, Michael Goldman, said the two countries were “committed as allies.”
He said they were working to make their “militaries interoperable” and also in strategic planning.
“And when you look at strategic planning, it covers the range of contingencies… of which Taiwan is obviously an important component,” Goldman added.
He said the US was focused not only on possible military intervention in Taiwan, but also risks such as cyber incursions.
Concern has been growing over China’s increasing assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region and its growing tensions with Taiwan.
Taiwan has its own independent and democratically elected government, but Beijing nonetheless claims sovereignty over the island.
The US has repeatedly condemned Beijing for its stance on Taiwan, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month telling top Chinese diplomats in a face-to-face meeting that the US intends to defend the “rules-based order.”
Goldman, the US embassy’s charge d’affaires, also told the ANU there was “enormous respect” for Australia for standing up to China’s “economic coercion.”
He said the US and China would not see substantial improvements in its relationship “while it’s holding hostage the economies of our partner nations.”
GNA