The Biden administration may have claimed that they were going to focus strictly on American priorities during the initial months of their reign. However, the Chinese are pushing that plan to the breaking point. Near as we can tell, they are looking to poke at Biden until they get a reaction. They are looking to lure us into a showdown.
The Chinese are very persistent. Everyone knows that this is not going to stop until their demands have been met. Unfortunately, the nation of Taiwan finds itself caught in the middle. Bombers and military jets were sent into the Taiwan airspace recently, in a clear act of aggression. When the USS Theodore Roosevelt was sent through the South China Sea, the US made their feelings known.
Now, the return message is being sent through Chinese state media. According to spokespeople from the Chinese military, Taiwan is striving for independence. The Global Times has the full statement. “The Chinese Defense Ministry said on Thursday that China-US military relations are at a new starting point with the Biden administration, but warned it is impossible for the US to contain China if it remains determined to do so, and “Taiwan independence” will lead to war…
On the recent operations of the People’s Liberation Army in the Taiwan Straits, Wu again stressed that Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinese territory, and the Taiwan question is China’s internal affairs and does not allow any foreign intervention. The PLA operations in the Taiwan Straits are aimed at the current situation in the region, and are a necessary move to safeguard national sovereignty and security, and act as a stern response to foreign interference and Taiwan secessionists’ provocations, Wu said.
“Taiwan independence” means war, Wu warned. The warning is not only to “Taiwan independent” forces but also to the US since the US has been sending the wrong signals to Taiwan secessionists and boosting support to them, according to Song.”
This lays it all out pretty clearly for all parties involved. The US needs to watch their step or the Chinese are going to heighten their aggression. They want peace but if we are not willing to do what they say, they are going to act decisively. If nothing else, they have laid it out very clearly for us all. The Chinese said, “if you don’t do what we say, there is going to be violence”.
For their part, the Pentagon has decided to brush the statement off. “We find that comment unfortunate and certainly not commensurate with our intentions to meet our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act and to continue to, as Secretary [Antony] Blinken at the State Department said yesterday, look for ways where we can cooperate with China, but we have obligations that we intend to meet,” Pentagon press secretary John Kirby told reporters.
The Pentagon “sees no reason why tensions over Taiwan need to lead to anything like confrontation,” Kirby said. “The United States military remains ready in all respects to meet our security commitments in the region.” That is all well and good but what happens if China decides that they are going to press the issue?
There isn’t much that the United States can do at that point except respond in kind. This is a key issue to the Chinese and their national pride is on the line. “Although the Communist Party has never ruled Taiwan, it views control over the island as essential to completing its goal of reversing China’s “century of humiliation” by colonial powers,” a recent Bloomberg piece points out.
The people of China are never going to be considered in the same manner as the citizens of the United States. Their government tells them where to go and how to get there, in a figurative sense. Communist dictatorships like these already have everything they want….except for the same power that is wielded by these United States.
