U.S., South Korea express concerns over China's military drills around Taiwan

Washington, Nov. 1 (CNA) The United States and South Korea on Friday expressed concerns over China's recent "provocative actions" that saw its military stage large-scale exercises around Taiwan, which have raised tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

In a joint statement released by the U.S. and South Korean governments after the 2+2 ministerial meeting for 2024, both sides emphasized the importance of stability across the Taiwan Strait.

On Oct. 31, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin hosted a joint foreign and defense ministerial meeting with South Korea's Minister of Foreign Affairs Cho Tae-yul and Minister of National Defense Kim Yong-hyun.

"They (the four U.S. and South Korea officials) expressed concern over provocative actions, particularly the recent military drills around Taiwan that escalate tension and concurred that no further actions should be taken that could undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," the statement said.

"Both sides emphasized the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity for the international community," the statement added.

According to the statement, the U.S. and South Korea remained unchanged in their basic position about Taiwan, such as their wish for "the peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues."

On Oct. 14, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) launched military drills code-named "Joint Sword-2024B," involving the army, navy, air force and rocket force, in the Taiwan Strait and areas to the north, south and east of Taiwan, as a "stern warning to the separatist acts of Taiwan independence forces."

The Chinese military drills came only days after President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said in his Oct. 10 National Day address that China has "no right to represent Taiwan." Lai of the pro-independence ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) reiterated in the speech that Taiwan and China are not subordinate to each other.

Political parties in Taiwan slammed China's military actions with the DPP saying it "strongly condemned" Beijing over the "irrational" and "provocative" exercises.

It was the second large-scale military exercise since Lai took office on May 20. On May 23, The PLA staged the "Joint Sword-2024A" military drills around Taiwan.

The 2+2 talks are the bilateral meetings Washington holds with its key allies in the region, such as South Korea, Japan and Australia.

In the joint statement, the two U.S. secretaries and South Korean ministers also condemned the "deepening military cooperation" between North Korea and Russia, including continued unlawful arms transfers and the deployment of North Korea's troops to Russia to help it fight the war in Ukraine.

According to sources from the U.S. and Japan, about 10,000 North Korean troops have been deployed in Russia and could join their Russian counterparts to take actions against Ukraine.

The statement cited the American and South Korean officials in the joint meeting as saying the military cooperation between Russia and South Korea not only violated multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions but also prolonged the suffering of the Ukrainian people and threatened stability in the Indo-Pacific region and Europe.

The statement said Washington and Seoul also condemned Russia's "brutal, unprovoked and unjustifiable" military actions against Ukraine and recognized the Russian behavior violated the U.N. Charter.

"Both sides committed to enforce the current autonomous sanctions regime and actively pursue necessary measures together with the international community to deter further unlawful, reckless, and destabilizing behavior," the statement said.

According to the statement, Washington and Seoul demonstrated their strong opposition to any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the waters of the Indo-Pacific, while they recognized the importance of opposing unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea.

In the statement, the U.S. and South Korea also underscored the importance of maritime safety and security, upholding international law as reflected in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, such as freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the sea, and peaceful resolution of disputes as essential for regional stability and prosperity.