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Q: Thank you so much, General. So, yesterday there was a media report that U. S. and the Taiwan navies conducted official joint trainings in the Western Pacific in April. And the Taiwan navy didn’t deny the report of this joint training. Could you give us DOD’s comment on this report?
GEN. RYDER: Yeah, thanks, Ryo. I’ve seen that reporting, but don’t have a comment on specific operations. As you know, we have a longstanding One-China policy. And consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the U.S. makes available to Taiwan defense articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a self-defense capability. So, beyond that, nothing further to provide.
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Q: Thank you. Chinese Coast Guard vessels entered prohibited waters last week south of Kinmen, the island that belongs to Taiwan. I was wondering if the DOD, through some of its measures that it’s restored to communicate with Chinese counterparts, has sent a message regarding that since that happened last week.
GEN. RYDER: Yeah. I don’t — I don’t have anything specific to pass along. You know, we, obviously, continue to urge the PRC not to use Taiwan’s election as a pretext for escalation. As you know, we’ve seen in the past where they’ve used naval activity to increase pressure. We remain concerned by those types of activities. And I’ll just leave it there.
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Source: U.S. Department of Defense
Speaker: Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary
Format: Press Briefing
China Policy Research 