US Senator from Tennessee, Marsha Blackburn on Sunday said China is aggressively testing President Joe Biden's administration, calling it part of a 'new axis of evil'.
In an interview with Fox News, Blackburn said generations of Americans have promised to protect Taiwan, which sends the signal that the US is going to "stand for and protect democracy".
"That signal is understood by our allies, not only our allies in the Indo-Pacific, but our allies globally. It is also understood by our enemies that we are going to stand solid and resolute for democracy...," she said.
The Republican Senator further said the Biden administration should send more messages of support for Taiwan and do the same for allies who will stand against China and its aggression.
"Look, when you look at what is happening with China, how they are pushing into the South China Sea, if they move in and they were to take Taiwan, if they take away the freedoms from Hong Kong, if you look at what they are doing to the Tibetans, that they are doing to the Uyghurs, if you look at how they are trying to practice debt diplomacy all around the globe...what are they trying to do?" Blackburn told Fox News.
"They are trying to build a Chinese empire, much like what you had with the old Soviet Union. And as I said, China, Russia, Iran, North Korea - this is your new axis of evil. This is where we have to keep our focus," she added.
Beijing claims full sovereignty over Taiwan, a democracy of almost 24 million people located off the southeastern coast of mainland China, despite the fact that the two sides have been governed separately for more than seven decades.
Taipei, on the other hand, has countered the Chinese aggression by increasing strategic ties with democracies including the US, which has been repeatedly opposed by Beijing. China has threatened that "Taiwan's independence" means war.
Taiwan returned to the forefront of US-China tensions last weekend when Beijing sent more than two dozen warplanes into the self-governing island's air defence identification zone in a 48-hour period.
White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters on Friday that Washington has been watching China's aggressive actions against Taiwan very closely and raising concerns about it both publicly and privately.
( With inputs from ANI )
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