Russian Foreign Ministry says US using Taiwan to fuel conflict in Asia

TheUnited States is using Taiwan to foment conflict in Asia in order to realize its interests. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said on November 24.

"Naturally, the issue of Taiwan is within the exclusive competence of our Chinese colleagues. However, we see that Washington is strengthening military and political contacts with Taipei under the slogan of preserving the 'status quo' and increasing arms deliveries," TASS quoted him as saying.

Rudenko specified that the United States provokes China and inflames the conflict "to serve its own vested interests." The deputy minister added that the West continues to destroy the system of cooperation that has been formed over the years, relying on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Such actions, Rudenko said, could split the region and bring it to a "very serious conflict."

He said that the US is "stirring up the situation" by the same means it is using in Ukraine.

Earlier, on November 17, Chinese President Xi Jinping said at a meeting with US President Joe Biden that the US should not interfere in the South China Sea disputes and the Taiwan issue.

Prior to that, on Nov. 13, Beijing accused Washington of using Taiwan to contain the PRC. The U.S. ban on TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) from supplying some advanced microchips from the island of Taiwan to mainland China raises tensions in the region, China believed.

The escalation of the conflict between China and Taiwan came after the visit to the island by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in August 2022. The Chinese side considers Taiwan to be its own territory, so it views visits to the island by officials from other countries as support for Taiwan's independence.

Official relations between the PRC government and its island province broke down in 1949 when the Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek, who lost in a civil war with the Communist Party of China, moved to Taiwan. Contacts between the island and mainland China resumed in the late 1980s. The U.S. openly supports the Taiwanese authorities.