Peace in Taiwan Strait a global concern, says Mullen

Taipei: Maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is “not just a U.S. interest, but also a global one,” former Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen said Wednesday during a visit to Taiwan that comes amid the backdrop of Russia’s war against Ukraine.

Peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region have “never been more important,” Mullen said in remarks to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. “We come to Taiwan at a very difficult and critical moment in world history.

As President Biden has said, democracy is facing sustained and alarming challenges, most recently in Ukraine,” Mullen said. “Now more than ever, democracy needs champions.” The Ukraine conflict has drawn some parallels to China’s threat to use force to annex Taiwan, a self-governing island democracy it considers its own territory.

China has sought to diplomatically isolate Tsai’s administration, flown military aircraft into the island’s air defense identification zone and held threatening military exercises nearby. The sides are separated by the 160-kilometer (100 mile) -wide Taiwan Strait, and any Chinese attempt to attack or invade would entail considerable risk, along with the possibility of involving the U.S. and other regional powers in the conflict. —AP