With the World's Eyes on Ukraine, China Intrudes on Taiwanese Air Space
As Vladimir Putin and Russia take advantage of a weak U.S. president by invading Ukraine, the Chinese are also rattling sabers and the threat to Taiwan is growing. As proof of that, on Thursday, the communist nation sent threatening warplanes into Taiwan’s airspace.
On the same day Putin’s forces launched an invasion of Ukraine, Chinese military jets were once again making incursions inside Taiwan’s territory, making it clear that China does not fear the United States.
Taiwanese authorities said “eight Chinese J-16 fighters and one Y-8 reconnaissance aircraft, which flew over an area to the northeast of the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands at the top end of the South China Sea,” Reuters reported.
China also again warned the United States to stay out of its business where it concerns Taiwan.
“We urge the U.S. side to recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue, stop interfering in China’s internal affairs and stop playing with fire on the Taiwan issue,” Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said on Thursday.
Kefei was referring to the longstanding agreement that the U.S. has to help Taiwan maintain its freedom. It is a promise that Biden reiterated last year.
In a CNN town hall in October, the president agreed that “we have a commitment” to help Taiwan protect itself from Chinese aggression.
COOPER: “Are you saying that the United States would come to Taiwan’s defense?”
QUESTIONER: “If China attacked?”
BIDEN: “Yes, we have a commitment to do that.” pic.twitter.com/YTgxMaD4MP
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) October 22, 2021
A White House official later confirmed that the U.S. intended to stick by its agreements with the country.
“The U.S. defense relationship with Taiwan is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act. We will uphold our commitment under the Act, we will continue to support Taiwan’s self-defense, and we will continue to oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo,” the official told CNN.
But under its “One China” policy, the communist nation has always claimed that the island nation of Taiwan is really the property of China and that Taiwan is not a sovereign nation.
Regardless, Taiwan has considered itself a separate nation for decades. It has its own elections, its own currency and its own passports, all of which are accepted as legal across the world. Still, the United Nations has refused to formally recognize the sovereignty of the country out of fealty to member nation China.
However, because China claims that it owns Taiwan, the island nation has had a Sword of Damocles hanging over it for decades, and it has withstood constant threats of invasion and war.
The Chinese communist government has repeatedly said there is “no room” for compromise with its “One China” policy and maintains that Taiwan is an “inalienable part” of China.
“When it comes to issues related to China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and other core interests, there is no room for China to compromise or make concessions,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said in June.
“No one should underestimate the strong determination, firm will and strong ability of the Chinese people to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said. “Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory. The Taiwan issue is purely an internal affair of China that allows no foreign intervention.”
With that belligerent policy in place, China has encroached on Taiwan’s airspace with military aircraft numerous times and last year launched its biggest incursion yet.
On June 15, the communist giant flew a fleet of 28 warplanes into Taiwan’s airspace. China denied that the move was a provocation, claiming that it was just “routine,” according to NPR.
Unfortunately for Taiwan, China knows the same thing that Vladimir Putin knows: Joe Biden is weak and unlikely to do anything to stop efforts to invade and take lands away from neighboring nations.
Biden has affirmed that the U.S. will stand by its commitment to Taiwanese sovereignty and military readiness. But he has made many of the same claims to support Ukraine, and, as Putin has discovered, it appears that rhetoric was empty. That must give Taiwan serious worries.
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