Blinken threatens China with 'terrible consequences' over Chinese Taipei invasion

The United States has once again accused China of planning to invade Chinese Taipei, warning Beijing that taking the island by force would have “terrible consequences." 

"But here again, I hope that China's leaders think very carefully about this and about not precipitating a crisis that would have, I think, terrible consequences for lots of people, and one that's in no one's interest, starting with China," US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at the Reuters Next conference on Friday.

Tensions continue to be high between Washington, Beijing and Moscow; however, Blinken avoided saying specifically if the US would send military forces to the region if China launched an offensive on Chinese Taipei.

"We've been very clear and consistently clear, over many years that we are committed to making sure that Taiwan has the means to defend itself and ... we will continue to make good on that commitment,” Blinken said.

US President Joe Biden previously said Washington would dispatch military forces to Taipei if it came under Chinese attack.

China, for its part, sees Taipei as part of it.

And, most countries, the US included in particular, have agreed to the "One China" policy.

China urges US to abide by 'One China' policy, says won't compromise on core interests

China calls on the United States to strictly abide by the "One China" principle, stressing that Beijing would not compromise on its core interests.

Beijing's position on the matter is that there is “no room for compromise” regarding the Chinese nation’s sovereignty over its inseparable lands. It has repeatedly warned countries supporting Taipei's bid for independence from mainland China to refrain from “playing with fire”.

Meanwhile, a Chicago Council on Global Affairs survey in October claimed that 52 percent of Americans would support US troops fighting China in case it aimed to take control of Taipei.

A recent survey showed 52 percent of the people in the US see the Chinese government as the No.1 international threat to Americans' interests.

Tensions between the US and its main international rivals, namely, China and Russia, which escalated to new levels under former US President Donald Trump over a range of issues, remain to be high in recent months despite the change of hands in the US government.

US accuses Russia, China of planning invasion; warns them of consequences

The Biden administration has accused Russia and China of planning invasions of the US allies, warning them of consequences if Moscow and Beijing launched any offensives.

Blinken has also warned Russia of "serious consequences" if it were to launch an offensive against Ukraine.

In the meantime, Moscow dismissed Washington’s allegations of Russian preparation to invade Ukraine, accusing Washington of trying to aggravate the situation in the Donbas, while blaming Moscow, the Kommersant newspaper said, citing the Foreign Ministry.

On Saturday, the Washington Post cited officials and an intelligence document as saying US sources thought Moscow could be planning a multi-front offensive on Ukraine as early as next year involving up to 175,000 troops.

"The (United) States is conducting a special operation to aggravate the situation around Ukraine while shifting the responsibility onto Russia," the Kommersant quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova as saying on Saturday.

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