After the United States House of Representatives approved a bill that will provide military assistance to Taiwan and other places in the Indo-Pacific area, Beijing has expressed strong discontent and fierce opposition.
On April 20, the US House approved four bills in a$ 95 billion package intended to strengthen Taiwan, Israel, and Ukraine’s defense capacities. About$ 60. While spending$ 26. 84 billion, Ukraine may receive additional funding to combat Russia. Israel will use the 38 act to help itself in fighting Iran and its intermediaries.
One of the bills has an$ 8 denomination. 12 billion for Taiwan and the nations in the Indo-Pacific to “assure powerful punishment in the region and counter communist China. ” ”
The assistance includes:
- a$ 3. 3 billion money to build underwater system, including investments in clean dock construction;
- Taiwan and other important allies and safety partners in the Indo-Pacific are funding a foreign military leasing program worth$ 2 billion in response to Chinese aggression. and
- $ 1. 9 billion to replenish the security products and services Taiwan and other local partners have received.
The remaining$ 920 million will be used to improve US military capabilities in the area, increase the development of essential munitions and produce artillery, and give more flexibility for loans and loan guarantees from overseas military financed organizations.
Already, on February 8, the US Senate had passed the$ 95 billion package to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Joe Biden, the US senator, will soon be given the package for review before it becomes law.
The US insists on passing and signing a bill that contains anti-Taiwan-related language, gravely violating the one-China process, and gravely violating the three Sino-US combined communications, according to Chen Binhua, spokeswoman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. We express our strong opposition to this and our discontent. ”
Chen added that Taiwan’s ruling party, the Democratic Progressive Party, is attempting to concentrate on the US and use power to appoint freedom, but it is unlikely to succeed.
The US is attempting to stoke a turmoil and conflict in the Taiwan Strait and related region by providing military aid to Taiwan, according to Li Haidong, a teacher at the Institute of International Relations of China Foreign Affairs University, in an interview with the Global Times. The US will then use the hostility and problems it hastens to entice nations in East Asia and the West Pacific to join forces and form an alliance. ”
According to Li, this action may cause section in the Asia-Pacific region, undermine Sino-US relations’ crucial foundation, and seriously impair the region’s existing order and security environment, which would contribute to shared prosperity.
US responsibility
The newly approved US defense support boosted the Taipei government and the local press. Tsai Ing-wen, the leader of Taiwan, thanked the US Congress for approving it.
A peaceful and stable Taiwan Strait is crucial to peace and prosperity, Chinese Premier Chen Chien-jen said on Monday.
He stated that Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded nations, including the US and all members of the free political movement, to preserve peace and freedom in the Indo-Pacific area and improve stability of the Taiwan Strait place.
The approval of the military aid for Taiwan reaffirmed Washington ’s “rock-solid ” commitment to helping the island defend itself, especially when this year marks the 45th anniversary of the passage of the US-Taiwan Relations Act, said Anny Hsiao, executive director of the Formosan Association for Public Affairs ( FAPA ), a Washington-based organization of Taiwanese Americans.
She said the US should give up its “strategic ambiguity ” on the China-Taiwan matter and adopt “strategic clarity. ”
Washington has been confusing for some decades about whether it will support Taiwan militarily if mainland China attacks the island. In addition, Biden stated on numerous occasions last year that if a conflict breaks out in the Taiwan Strait, the US would assist Taiwan.
‘Salami tactics ’
At the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024’s opening ceremony on April 20, Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador to the US, delivered a conversation.
He warned the US of the consequences of interfering with China ’s internal affairs and damaging China ’s interests on issues related to Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Xizang ( Tibet ) and the South China Sea.
”Applying pepperoni approaches and crossing red lines on problems bearing on some ’ core passions is just like racing vehicles on a cliff’s border, where a collision is almost inevitable, ” he said.
The Taiwan issue is the most crucial and sensitive point in Sino-US ties. The so-called ‘ Taiwan independence ’ is a dead end, and the one-China principle is a red line not to be crossed, ” he said.
He added that while it’s healthy for the US and China to disagree, it’s also crucial for both sides to effectively handle their differences and respect each other’s main concerns and interests.
US State Secretary Antony Blinken will be in Beijing on a Friday visit, and Wang Yi, the country’s foreign secretary, invited him.
A senior US State Department official told the media that Blinken during his China trip will convey Washington ’s deep concerns ” over China ’s aid for Russia’s defense industrial base.
Taiwan concerns, Chinese commercial overcapacity, and the Middle East problems are expected to be Blinken’s topics of conversation with his Chinese rivals.
Read: Blinken to China to worry about aid for Russia
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