TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Top American and Australian officials on Tuesday (Dec. 6) reiterated their commitment to maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and opposition to unilateral changes to the status quo, during 2+2 ministerial talks in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III met with Australia Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles to discuss strengthening Indo-Pacific and global cooperation. The officials commended Taiwan’s role as a leading democracy and important economy in the Indo-Pacific region per a joint statement released by the U.S. State Department.

They agreed to jointly support Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations and to deepen economic, social, and people-to-people ties with Taiwan. The officials also said they would continue cooperating with Taiwan to boost development coordination in the Pacific.

Additionally, the officials said they planned to encourage Beijing to take steps in risk reduction and transparency measures. They also expressed the importance of working with China on areas of common concern, including climate change, pandemic threats, non-proliferation, countering illicit and illegal narcotics, the global food crisis, and macroeconomic issues.

In a press conference following the talks, Blinken said China is observing developments in Ukraine to see how the U.S. and other countries respond to Russian aggression. He said that NATO is strengthening its defensive posture "in case that aggression were to spread." 

"I think that has to have an impact on China’s thinking about the future and about what it may be looking at in terms of Taiwan," he added.