The conversation, which lasted about 45 minutes, did not lead to any major breakthroughs
Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin spoke with Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe on Wednesday, according to Voice of America.
relations between the two countries, “regional security issues, as well as unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine” .
45 minutes did not lead to any major breakthroughs, but Austin reiterated the importance of Beijing not helping Russia in its aggression against Ukraine. In turn, the head of the Chinese military stressed during the conversation that Taiwan is part of China.
Despite tensions and harsh rhetoric, the U.S. military has long sought open lines of contact with its Chinese counterparts to help mitigate possible strains in relations or respond to emergencies. However, only on April 20, Austin was able to talk to the head of the Chinese Defense Ministry.
The United States has no official relationship with Taiwan, but is the largest country in the world that supports it and supplies it with weapons. The Biden administration has repeatedly expressed its strong commitment to supporting a democratically governed Taiwan.
Read also: China has sent fighters, bombers and warships to training near Taiwan
The first democratically The president-elect of Taiwan was the son of Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek, Jiang Jing, also known as Nikolai Vladimirovich Elizarov, the author of Taiwan's economic miracle. From 1925 to 1937 he lived and studied in the USSR. For some time he lived in the family of Vladimir Lenin's older sister Anna Elizarova, whose surname he took as a pseudonym. He was repressed in 1937 and then left for his homeland with his wife, Faina Vakhreva of Belarus (known in Taiwan as Fanlian). In 1984 he was elected president of a partially recognized republic under democratic procedure. He died in 1988, leaving no savings or property.
Today, Taiwan is one of the world's leading manufacturers of electronics, including microprocessors.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory enshrined in its constitution.
