China is changing the status quo in the region by conducting military sorties near Taiwan, Premier Su Tseng-chang said Friday.

Sending military planes to conduct exercises near Taiwan is “an act of changing the status quo” and an “inappropriate use of force,” he said when asked to comment on Secretary of State Antony Blinken speech outlining America’s China policy, according to a media report from Taipei.

In his speech, Blinken criticised Beijing for its “increasingly provocative rhetoric and activity” against Taiwan.  These are deeply destabilising, risked miscalculation, and threatened the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.

Blinken specifically cited the sorties of PLA aircraft in airspace near Taiwan on an almost daily basis as an example of the destabilising behavior.

The US continued to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side of the Taiwan Strait and expected cross-strait differences to be resolved peacefully, Blinken said.

Blinken also said the US would “maintain our capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardise the security or the social or economic system of Taiwan.”

According to the Taiwan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Blinken’s speech showed that the US is very concerned about China’s attempts to exert military and economic pressure on Taiwan and isolate the country.

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