17:00 ET/22:00 BST: Rep Meeks To Provide Threat Assessment Of China

17:00 ET 22:00 BST: US House Rep and House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Gregory Meeks (D-NY) is providing a Q&A with Washington Post live on, "US economic and military ties to Japan and South Korea, and the threat posed by China."

• The event can be livestream here: wapo.st/meeksaug2022
• Meeks was a member of the Congressional delegation led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) which visited Taiwan last week and initiated an ongoing diplomatic crisis with China.
• The interview comes as China extends military exercises, beyond a self-imposed August 8 timeframe, in the Taiwan Strait and continues to rebuff US attempts to reopen military lines of communication.
• Meeks told CBS's Face the Nation this week that the Taiwan codel did nothing provocative, "the ones that were sending missiles over Taiwan ,and China encircling the island was, in fact, Beijing."
• Meeks refused to be drawn on whether or not the US should alter the policy of strategic ambiguity regarding the defence of Taiwan in the event of a Chinese invasion.
• Meeks: "What we need at this time is the status quo to remain as is, and that is the best way to reduce tensions, not the provocations that are being put on by Beijing."