(CNN)The White House summoned the Chinese ambassador on Thursday to accuse China of "irresponsible" military activities near Taiwan. An escalation of continues in the region after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island this week, which denounced as tensions.
"After overnight China's actions, we summoned the People's Republic of China Ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to condemn China's provocative actions. "We have the goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," John Kirby, the National Security Council's strategic communications coordinator, said in a statement to CNN.
Since Pelosi left Taiwan, China has taken several militant steps, both diplomatically and militarily.
On the diplomatic front, Beijing has imposed sanctions on Pelosi and her immediate family, and on Friday said it would stop cooperation with Washington on several issues, including combating the climate crisis. .
The United States and China last year in Glasgow announced a bilateral agreement to work together on the climate crisis. National climate representatives were in regular contact to build on that agreement.
Taiwan's Ministry of Defense said Chinese warships and aircraft had conducted exercises in the waters around the island, with Chinese forces crossing the Central Line, the midpoint between the island and mainland China. A very provocative act.
Two Chinese drones also flew near Japan on Thursday, prompting the Air Self-Defense Force to scramble fighter jets in response, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.
Kirby argued that the White House told Qin that the United States did not want a crisis in the region, that there would be no change to the United States' One China policy, and that Washington would recognize the People's Republic of China as China. He said he repeatedly stated that China's only legitimate government.
"The United States also made it clear that it is prepared for Beijing's choice. It does not seek or desire danger. At the same time, it will not deter its activities at sea. Taiwan. For decades, we have supported the skies of the Western Pacific, consistent with international law, to support a free and open Indo-Pacific," Kirby said in a statement. .
His NSC coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs, Kurt Campbell, met with Qin, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Secretary of State Anthony Brinken told reporters on Friday that the United States had repeatedly told China, "We do not seek or create a crisis." He called China's recent actions "provocative" and a "grave escalation".
The Chairman's visit was "peaceful" and "there is no justification for this extreme, disproportionate and escalating military response," he said.
California Democrat Pelosi said the US House Speaker's first visit to Taiwan in 25 years was intended to "clearly" make clear that the United States "will not renounce." said there is. Taipei.
It has reached a low point in US-China relations, despite the Biden administration's warnings against visiting the democratically governed island.
The United States maintains close informal ties with Taiwan, and is legally obligated to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons. However, it deliberately remained ambiguous as to whether it would defend Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion, a policy known as "strategic ambiguity".
The US has postponed a long-planned missile test because of China's angry reaction to Pelosi's visit. A U.S. official told CNN that Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has instructed the Pentagon to postpone test flights of the unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile after China begins military exercises. rice field.
This article has been updated with additional information.
