Joe Biden administration escalating tensions by promoting Taiwan's independence: N Korea

The US has been accused of promoting Taiwan's independence and exacerbating the situation in the Asia-Pacific region, by North Korea's Deputy Foreign Minister, Pak Myong Ho. The KCNA news agency quoted Pak who said in a statement that the US has recently "heightened military tensions" by proclaiming Taiwan's independence, despite the fact that Taiwan is a part of China.

Earlier in a CNN town hall discussion, US President Joe Biden stated that if Taiwan were to be attacked by China, the US would definitely defend it, as per the news report on Thursday.

North Korea's Pak also stated that this year alone, the United States sent a slew of warships into the Taiwan Straits under the guise of freedom of navigation. According to him, the US even sent a battleship from an ally to the Taiwan Straits to raise tensions. As the United States and its allies conducted military drills near the South China Sea, China dispatched almost 150 military aircraft, including fighter jets and bombers, near Taiwan.

Chinese military aircraft bombarded Taiwan's identification zone

During the day and at night, Chinese military aircraft bombarded Taiwan's identification zone, causing Taiwan to dispatch patrol planes to repel them. Taiwan is seen by China as a renegade province. Since 1949, when an opposition nationalist group escaped to the island during a civil war and established a government, the island has been governed separately from mainland China.

North Korea has become increasingly critical of the US's broader security role in the Asia-Pacific region. Pak Myong also said that it is a well-known fact that US troops and military bases in South Korea are used "to put pressure on China" and that the US and its satellite states' massive forces, which are concentrated near Taiwan, can be committed to a military operation targeting the DPRK at any time, abbreviating the North's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. He claimed that the growing military deployment of US-led "hostile forces" in the region was based on a lame allegation that North Korea and China will cause problems in Taiwan and on the Korean Peninsula.

Nuclear weapons are a guarantee of the Kim family regime's existence

The question of relieving severe US-led sanctions against North Korea in exchange for efforts by the North to wind down its nuclear weapons development has paralysed nuclear talks between Washington and Pyongyang for more than two years. Nuclear weapons, Pyongyang believes, are the ultimate guarantee of the Kim family regime's existence, which has ruled Korea since the 1940s.

(Inputs from ANI/ AP News)

Image: AP/ Unsplash