Editor’s be aware: On August 18, U.S. President Joe Biden hosted the first-ever standalone trilateral summit between the leaders of the U.S., Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK). This episode of Reality Check breaks down the results of the summit, it is that means for the safety and stability in Asia, and, extra importantly, the way it will affect these international locations’ relationship with China given the summit’s concentrate on one of the crucial delicate points within the area – the Taiwan query.
Hey guys, welcome to Reality Check. I’m Huang Jiyuan.
May 1st, 2021, the Economist revealed an article with the headline “The most dangerous place on Earth.” The sub-headline reads: “America and China must work harder to avoid war over the future of Taiwan.”
We noticed how “hard” America has been working. U.S. President Joe Biden has been clear that the United States will come to Taiwan’s support ought to the Chinese mainland assault; His administration made an unprecedented transfer in July by sending $345 million price of weapons straight from the U.S. stockpiles to the area. On August 18, he hosted the primary U.S.-Japan-South Korea management summit at Camp David. Their joint assertion concerning China states that”we share concerns about actions inconsistent with the rules-based international order, which undermine regional peace and prosperity” and that “we reaffirm the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait as an indispensable element of security and prosperity in the international community. There is no change in our basic positions on Taiwan, and we call for a peaceful resolution of cross-Strait issues.”
Brian Berletic, former U.S. Marine and Geopolitical Analyst, mentioned in an earlier interview that “the concept of encircling and containing China stretches all the way back to the end of World War II. We remember General Douglas MacArthur saying Taiwan was an unsinkable aircraft carrier the U.S. could use to maintain primacy over Asia. And this is a sentiment that has stayed with Washington and the interest that back it up to and including the present day.”
The U.S.’s technique has been clear: Militarize Taiwan as a lot as attainable; Get American allies within the area to bolster Taiwan’s protection; Fan the “Taiwan independence” flame; every little thing in need of permitting it to turn into impartial. But there is a caveat: There’s a advantageous line between fanning the flames and never permitting it to declare independence. Case in level: Lai Ching-te’s latest “stopovers” via the United States.
Over the previous week, he made a “stopover” in New York and attended the inauguration of Paraguay’s new president. He had one other “stopover” this time in San Francisco earlier than returning to Taiwan. No interplay with high-level U.S. officers. None. Remember, when his boss transited within the U.S. earlier this 12 months, she had a really high-profile assembly with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a gaggle of lawmakers on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Why the chilly shoulder? Before his go to, Lai advised his supporters that if a Taiwan chief can enter the White House, they’d have achieved their political goal. As the deputy chief of China’s Taiwan area and candidate within the upcoming management race, Lai’s phrases raised alarms.
According to the Financial Times, the U.S. State Department noticed his remarks as one thing “very different from” what has been mentioned beforehand and requested if Lai could be popping out with extra “surprises.” Former White House China official Dennis Wilder mentioned the Biden administration was “very anxious” about him and needed “to avoid a Chen Shui-bian type situation.”
Deputy Secretary General of the Alliance for China’s Peaceful Reunification within the U.S. Fred Tzou acknowledged that “it’s confirmed that the U.S. didn’t give him what he wants, because the U.S. does not want Lai’s transit to be interpreted as so-called breakthrough.” “Lai Ching-te’s packaging of ‘Taiwan independence’ can only lead Taiwan to the risk of war step by step,” Tzou mentioned.
Japan and South Korea want to grasp this: An “unsinkable aircraft carrier” sounds grand and necessary, however it’s only a device. It’s dispensable. Japan and South Korea strengthen U.S.’s navy management over the area. But it additionally makes them answerable for the mess ought to the U.S. select to tug again. Politicians like Lai Ching-te are already making the U.S. cautious of its place. Japan and South Korea must be looking for themselves.
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Source: CGTN