March 17, 2025
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has taken note that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) conducted joint combat readiness patrols near the Taiwan Strait on March 17, undermining regional peace and stability. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs subsequently made a number of claims, including that the action was in response to revisions made to the fact sheet on US-Taiwan relations on the United States Department of State website. It also demanded that the United States avoid causing severe damage to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.
MOFA strongly denounces China for jeopardizing the cross-strait status quo of peace and stability through military actions around the Taiwan Strait, using the aforementioned revisions to deflect attention from its own disruptive behavior and push its skewed narrative, and attempting to maliciously discredit Taiwan-US relations.
The US Department of State on February 13 updated the abovementioned section on its official website, emphasizing the United States’ abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, opposition to any unilateral changes to the status quo, and expectation that cross-strait differences be resolved by peaceful means. It also reiterated that the United States would honor its security commitments to Taiwan in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act. The website, in addition to reflecting the status quo and the consistent US approach to Taiwan across decades and administrations, underscored the importance that the United States places on cross-strait peace and stability.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung welcomes the support for Taiwan-US relations and the shared goal of promoting peace and prosperity as expressed on the related webpage. He stresses that the international community is cognizant of the fact that it is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) that has been pursuing expansion in the region in recent years, attempting to challenge the status quo, and employing gray-zone coercion, thereby repeatedly jeopardizing the stable status quo. The CCP cannot claim that it seeks stability when, in fact, it continues to adopt provocative means that disrupt regional and global peace and stability. As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will remain steadfast and do its utmost to ensure peace, stability, and prosperity in the region.