The Chinese Communist Party issued a staunch warning to the US after its lawmakers visited Taipei to meet Taiwan’s senior defence and external affairs officials as well as the head of state Tsai Ing-wen. China’s anger stems from the fact that the delegation of six lawmakers from US’ military, intelligence, foreign affairs, justice and finance committees are allegedly hyping up threats to Taiwan from ‘mainland China’.
The US is not entirely wrong as Taiwan frequently reports how China enters its airspace and remains a threat to its sovereignty. China claims that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China while Taiwan says it is independent and fiercely is against China’s plans of reunification.
“China will continue to take forceful measures to resolutely safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” China foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. It ordered the US to ‘to immediately stop all forms of official interactions with Taiwan authority and avoid sending wrong signals to secessionists, lest it should further undermine China-US relations and peace and stability across Taiwan Straits.’
While Chinese aggression is the primary cause for the instability the Indo-Pacific but US visits to Taipei amid war in Ukraine creates further chances for it to increase. There is no assurance that increased diplomacy between Taipei and Washington will not unsettle Xi Jinping. It was increased US interference in eastern Europe that has partly led to the situation in Ukraine hence it is reasonable to assume that Beijing is wary of Washington’s presence in an island that it claims to be its own.
Though China says that it does not want to take Taiwan by force while blocking its access from global institutions, visits by anti-Beijing politicians like Lindsey Graham and Bob Menendez and Washington’s supply of arms is likely to irk Beijing and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
This could be an effort also to get China to side with the US in condemning Russia which is wishful thinking given that both countries are now closer than ever with the US and its allies in central and western Europe isolating Russia.
However, Chinese president Xi Jinping unlike his Russian counterpart Putin is unlikely to make such a move to take over Taiwan but Washington could be trying to rattle the CCP by forcing them to make a mistake – like taking Taipei by force – which would also lead to China face sanctions and worldwide condemnation by making it look like the aggressor – at the cost of Taiwan’s people.
Taipei should also take measured steps when it comes to taking support from Washington and Tsai Ing-wen can call Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to know how it fared for him when it came to getting US and their so-called support to their ‘allies and friends’.
Read the Latest News and Breaking News here
Comments
0 comment