Be Wary of New Collusive Moves from US, Taiwan to Escalate Cross-Straits Tensions

By Global Times

Jun 15, 2022 12:16 AM

US, China, Taiwan island Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

The US and Taiwan island are in the final stages of preparation for a strategic dialogue between security officials, scheduled to take place by the end of June in the US, Japan-based media outlet Nikkei reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter. 

The collusion between the US and Taiwan after the Shangri-La Dialogue was a series of new moves that attempt to change the status quo of the Taiwan Straits. It once again proved that the US is calling a thief to catch a thief and trying to create a crisis on this matter, and then pin the blame on China, which is shameful.

The US' main purpose of having such a dialogue with the island of Taiwan is to provide more weapons to the island. Its essence is to bolster and embolden Taiwan secessionist authorities. From the perspective of Taiwan, it wants to make itself look important by leaning toward the US. The strategic dialogue between Taiwan and the US is extremely provocative with a strong political meaning. It provokes the one-China principle, and violates the joint communiqués in which the US commits not to have official and military exchanges with Taiwan. The dialogue itself is against the one-China principle.

"This dialogue echoes what US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said at the just concluded Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. These demonstrate that the US still intends to constantly play the 'Taiwan card' to contain the development of the Chinese mainland and undermine its core interests," According to Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, "these also show that the US has a clear, rather than ambiguous, strategy in containing China as well as toward Taiwan."

The NATO summit will take place at the end of this month. A Chinese professor on international relations, who requested anonymity, told the Global Times that one topic of the NATO summit is to expand its influence from Europe to the Asia-Pacific. And the US tends to believe that the crucial leverage to achieve it is the Taiwan question. Washington tries to exploit this issue to maintain US global hegemony.

Chinese officials' reiteration that the Taiwan Straits are not "international waters" in recent months during meeting with US counterparts has drawn Western media attention, especially those from the US. There is no legal basis of "international waters" in the international law of the sea. And China is entitled to a complete exclusive economic zone in the Taiwan Straits. It is hoped that the US can be fully aware of the political sensitivity and military complexity of the Taiwan Straits and refrain from escalating provocations against China on this question.

The reason why the US hyped whether the Taiwan Straits is so-called international waters is an attempt to internationalize, complicate, and militarize the Taiwan question, and to intensify cross-Straits frictions or even conflicts to contain China's rise.

Some people say the "Taiwan independence" forces are the biggest threat to peace across the Taiwan Straits. Without Washington's support, the "Taiwan independence" forces cannot become as rampant as they are today. As a result, the fundamental and biggest threat to cross-Straits stability is the US.

The US must not have the mentality it can fan the flames without taking responsibility. If a crisis breaks out in the Taiwan Straits, no matter how the US gets involved, it will lead to a showdown, or even a direct military clash with China.