U.S.-U.K Strategic Dialogue joint statement highlights Taiwan

Taipei, Sept. 15 (CNA) The United States and the United Kingdom reiterated on Saturday that stability in the Taiwan Strait was "indispensable" to international security and called for a "peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues."

Following the U.S.-U.K. Strategic Dialogue led by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy held in London on Sept. 10-11, a joint statement summarizing the two countries' geopolitical viewpoints was released on Saturday.

"The United States and United Kingdom affirmed the importance of close coordination to advance shared objectives and common values and interests with respect to the Indo-Pacific," the statement said.

"They restated the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait as indispensable to the security and prosperity of the international community and called for the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues," it added, after mentioning "dangerous and destabilizing actions in the South China Sea by Chinese vessels towards Philippines vessels."

Reflecting both countries' concerns that China may resort to military action to try to annex Taiwan in the coming years, the joint statement also said that the U.S. and the U.K. would together "oppose any unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion."

The joint statement also highlighted other major geopolitical issues including the Russia-Ukraine War, the Israel-Hamas War and "the threat foreign information manipulation and interference poses to democracies."

The U.S.-U.K. Strategic Dialogue joint statement signaled that the "special relationship" between the two countries involving close cooperation on security matters will continue and deepen in the future, according to the U.K.'s foreign office.