South China Sea conflict: US, allies to 'stand up' for stability in Taiwan Strait

US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced on Saturday that Washington and its Asian allies are committed to maintaining stability across the Taiwan Strait. Sullivan, during a joint briefing with counterparts from Tokyo and Seoul following a trilateral meeting in South Korea, reiterated their dedication to ensuring freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea.

In recent weeks, naval vessels from the United States and its Western allies have increased “freedom of navigation” crossings in both the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. This move aims to emphasize that both areas are considered international waterways, eliciting dissatisfaction from Beijing. The comments underscore the ongoing geopolitical tensions in the region.

“We will continue to stand up for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and freedom of navigation in the east and South China Seas,” Sullivan told reporters in Seoul, alongside South Korea’s Cho Tae-yong and Japan’s Takeo Akiba.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has moved to strengthen ties between Seoul and long-standing ally Washington to counter rising threats from nuclear-armed North Korea. He has also sought to resolve differences with Japan, another close US ally and Seoul’s former colonial ruler.

In August, the three allies said a “new chapter” of close three-way security cooperation was beginning after a historic summit at Camp David in the United States. Beijing had lodged complaints over a statement released at the summit at the time, in which the three nations criticised China’s “aggressive behaviour” in the South China Sea, which it claims most of.

China also claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory, vowing to seize it one day, and officials in Washington — Taipei’s most important ally – have cited 2027 as a possible timeline for an invasion. In April, South Korea’s Yoon said tensions over Taiwan were due to “attempts to change the status quo by force”.The comment resulted in a diplomatic tit-for-tat with China, which is South Korea’s biggest trading partner.

Last month, Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing made efforts to organise a trilateral leaders’ summit. The last such meeting was in 2019. Washington warned in November that military ties between North Korea and Russia were “growing and dangerous” and called on China to restrain Pyongyang.

On Saturday, Sullivan also said the three allies have launched “new trilateral initiatives” to “counter the threats” posed by North Korea, including “deepened collaboration” among their coast guards. The allies’ defence chiefs had earlier agreed to activate a real-time data-sharing operation on North Korean missile launches, starting this month.

The North successfully put a military spy satellite into orbit in November — with Seoul saying Pyongyang did so with Moscow’s help. North Korea soon after said its eye in the sky was already providing images of major US and South Korean military sites.

Washington, Tokyo and Seoul have led a chorus of global condemnation of the North for violating multiple UN Security Council resolutions, which bar it from tests using ballistic technology, used in both missiles and space launch rockets.

With inputs from agencies.