‘We do not support’ Taiwan’s independence Biden says after vote – Times of India

WASHINGTON: America on Saturday congratulated Taiwan’s president-elect Lai Ching-te, however maintained that Washington doesn’t help independence for the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.Requested by reporters for Washington’s place on Taiwan, the place independence-leaning Lai has pitched himself as a defender of the island’s democratic lifestyle, US President Joe Biden stated: “We don’t help independence.”In a press release, Secretary of State Antony Blinken saluted Lai on his victory in Saturday’s pivotal vote and hailed the “sturdy democratic system and electoral course of” of the self-ruled island.Blinken added that Washington is “dedicated to sustaining cross-Strait peace and stability, and the peaceable decision of variations, free from coercion and stress.”Lai, branded by China as a menace to peace, vowed Saturday to defend Taiwan in opposition to “intimidation” from China, after voters defied warnings from Beijing and swept him to election victory.America stated earlier this week that it plans to ship an unofficial delegation to Taiwan after the vote and warned China in opposition to any army provocation.Beijing reacted by slamming official visits between the island and america and known as on Washington to “chorus from intervening” in Taiwan’s elections.In his assertion Saturday, Blinken added: “The partnership between the American individuals and the individuals on Taiwan, rooted in democratic values, continues to broaden and deepen throughout financial, cultural, and people-to-people ties.”Communist China claims democratic Taiwan, separated from the mainland by a 110-mile (180-kilometer) strait, as its personal and refuses to rule out utilizing power to result in “unification,” even when battle doesn’t seem imminent.