Published: Less than 10 min ago
Taiwan is strengthening its military exchange with the United States, according to a statement from the island nation’s President Tsai Ing-Wen.
The statement comes in connection with the fact that a delegation from the United States, led by Republican Congressman Ro Khanna, has visited Taiwan in recent days.
“Taiwan and the United States will continue to strengthen their military exchanges,” Tsai Ing-wen said after a meeting with the delegation in Taiwan’s capital, Taipei.
“In the future, Taiwan will cooperate even more actively with the United States and with other democratic partners to face global challenges such as authoritarian expansionism and climate change,” the Taiwanese president added.
No details about what is included in the exchange have yet emerged.
The US does not officially recognize Taiwan as a country, but at the same time supports the island nation with the sale of weapons for self-defense purposes. In September, the United States announced that it would send an arms package worth 1.1 billion dollars, equivalent to around 12 billion kroner, to Taiwan.
The announcement of the weapons package came after Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, visited Taiwan – which led to China staging extensive military exercises in the area for a number of days.
Facts
Taiwan
Taiwan consists of a main island and several smaller islands in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Asian mainland.
The nation functions as an independent and democratic state, but is recognized as such by only a handful of countries. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway region that should be part of China.
China does not accept that other countries have relations with both Beijing and the Taiwanese government in Taipei.
Taiwan’s 23 million people have long lived with the threat of an invasion, but it has intensified under Xi Jinping’s tenure as president of China.
For strategic reasons, the US has chosen not to say clearly whether it will defend Taiwan in the event of an attack from China.
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