Since 1949, about 150 Chinese aircraft have flown over the island, which received independence status. Relations between Taipei and Beijing are at their “worst moment in four decades.”
It was a nervous week in the Taiwan Strait when electrical impulses emanating from it made the world wary. Over the course of four days, China has deployed some 150 warplanes into the autonomous island’s airspace since 1949, a demonstration of the “strength” that has brought relations between Taipei and Beijing “to their worst moment in four decades.”
The balance of power around Taiwan, whose independence is not recognized by China, has been disrupted and is now at the center of the strength test between China and the United States. “Taiwan is no longer a limited issue. It has become a central theater, if not a major drama in the strategic rivalry between the United States and China, ”said Evan Medeiros, former adviser to Barack Obama and an expert on Asian studies, cited by the northern American newspaper The Washington Post.
No one doubts China’s military might, which Beijing has been flaunting in recent weeks. Taiwan’s Defense Minister Chiu Go-cheng noted that Beijing already has “the ability to attack the island, but at a high cost,” which will be lower in 2025, when the ruler predicts that China may “stage a full-scale invasion.”
“Taiwan will not provoke an attack. However, we are at the worst moment in relations between the two sides of the strait since I started serving in the army 40 years ago, ”he said.
US Special Operations Forces have been secretly training Taiwanese troops for several months, a Pentagon spokesman told France Presse, confirming a report published in The Wall Street Journal. According to this American newspaper, about two dozen American soldiers trained the Taiwanese land and sea forces for “at least a year” in response to growing verbal threats from China.
Beijing responded by saying that the Americans should acknowledge the “very sensitive” situation in Taiwan. “The United States should (…) stop arms sales to Taiwan and US-Taiwan military relations so as not to seriously damage Sino-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. all necessary measures to protect their sovereignty and territorial integrity, ”he added.
Pentagon spokesman John Supple said US support for Taiwan’s military is measured by the island’s defense needs. “Our defense relationship is in line with the current threat from the People’s Republic of China,” Supple said in a statement. “A just cause always attracts a lot of support,” Prime Minister Tawane Su Tseng-chan said sharply.
