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China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory against the
strong objections of the democratically elected government in
Taipei, launched military drills near the island after U.S.
House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited in early
August, and those exercises have continued.
The Mainland Affairs Council said its minister Chiu Tai-san
would speak at the Brookings Institution think-tank on Sept. 6
and an event the next day it has co-organised with the Center
for a New American Security.
This is the 13th year it has held academic events with U.S.
think-tanks, and such exchanges "help to convey our policy
positions and win international support", the council added in
an emailed statement.
Chiu is also planning to meet U.S. officials, it added, without
giving details.
China's actions against Taiwan have increased tensions and
alarmed the international community, the council said.
"Taiwan is a responsible party in the region. We are calm and
not impetuous, rational and not provocative, but we will not
shirk," it added.
"We will firmly defend national sovereignty and security, adhere
to the line of the defence of democracy and freedom, and strive
to maintain the peaceful status quo in the Taiwan Strait."
The United States has no formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan
but is bound by law to provide the island with the means to
defend itself.
China has never ruled out using force to bring Taiwan under its
control.
Taiwan's government says the People's Republic of China has
never ruled the island and so has no right to claim it, and that
only its 23 million people can decide their future.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky and
Chizu Nomiyama)
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