Flying 145 warplanes over the Taiwan Strait, 68-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping gave the green light to the Peoples Liberation Army [PLA] to menace Taiwan, and, more to the point, at the United States. Since signing the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty Dec. 2, 1954, the U.S. was obligated to provide for Taiwan’s mutual defense, something threatend by Chinese Premier Mao Zedong. Mao didn’t like after the 1949 revolution, Chiang Kai-Shek fleeing with his band of Chinese nationalists to the Island of Formosa with U.S. military help. Mao shut the door on U.S. diplomatic relations until former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger opened the door Feb. 17, 1971for President Richard Nixon to reestablish diplomatic ties with China Feb. 21, 1972, opening the doors for today’s strong business ties with the Peoples Republic of China [PRC]. Xi considers himself a Mao disciple, despite calling himself president and acting more Western.
When the U.S. and Australia announced Sept. 22, before the U.N. General Assembly, a nuclear submarine deal with Australia, the French weren’t the only one that went ballistic. Xi gave the green light for the PLA to torture Taiwan, daring the U.S. to intervene. Sending 145 war planes into the Taiwan Strait sends a loud message to 78-year-old Joe Biden to not do anything stupid. State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. has Taiwan’s back but only symbolically, since it’s doubtful the Pentagon would intervene to defend Taiwan in the even of the Red Chinese invasion. U.S. government under President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the U.S.-Sino Mutual Defense Treaty in 1954, pledging military support to Taiwan. But once Nixon and Kissinger opened up diplomatic and trade relations with Beijing, the U.S.-Sino Mutual Defense Treaty was invalidated. When the U.S. signed the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act., mutual defense was not part of the deal.
Even though Australia won’t get its nuclear subs until 2040, Xi went ballistic, threatening Taiwan and the United States. Xi doesn’t like when the West questions his authority, especially in the South China Sea where the International Court of Justice at the Hague ruled in 2016 that China violated international rules of the sea. China thumbed its nose at the Hague’s ruling, continuing to build out military installation in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. China sees any foreign power as an intruder in international waters, violating the rules of the sea. U.S. officials found out the hard way April 1 2001 when China intercepted a US. EP-3E Aires surveillance plane, forcing it down on Hainan Island, holding U.S. crew hostage for 10 days. Pentagon officials received the plane back completely dismantled, to enable the PLA to reverse engineer the EP-3E. China becomes easily threatened by the United States or its allies.
Pentagon spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. was concerned about China’s aggression especially in the Taiwan Strait. Xi didn’t like when 58-year-old Secretary of State Antony Blinken and 44-year-old National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan accused Beijing March 18 at a get-to-know you summit in Anchorage, Alaska, of committing genocide against Muslim Uyghurs in Xinjiang Province. Blinken and Sullivan also criticized Beijing for cracking down on pro-democracy activists in Hong Kong. Antagonizing Xi has led to the current tensions with Beijing. Xi’s daring the U.S. to intervene militarily in Taiwan, potentially starting a regional, if not world war. Price talks tough about defending Taiwan but he has zero leverage in the Pacific Rim when it comes to China. Taiwan wants no part of any war with Beijing and would instead prefer to join Beijing’s confederation, despite the history of independence since the 1949 Maoist Revolution.
When former President Jimmy Carter signed the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, he agreed to recognized Beijing as the only China. Unlike Hong Kong where Beijing agreed to allow the once British Crown Colony some measure of autonomy, Beijing resents Taiwan’s relationship to the U.S. When Australia agreed to buy nuclear submarines from the U.S. to patrol the Pacific Rim including the South China Sea, that was the last straw to Xi. Xi looks to do anything to divert attention away from China hatching the deadly novel coronavirus in a Wuhan laboratory, then spreading it around the planet, infecting nearly 237 million, killing over 4.8 million worldwide. Xi would like nothing more than to divert world attention away from the origin of the deadly coronavirus and onto Taiwan. Pentagon officals know that they’re in to position to start confronting China in the Pacific Rim. Taiwan Relations Act assured that would not happen.
China’s motives for sending 145 war planes into the Taiwan Strait is a clear show on force to the U.S., calling Biden’s bluff. Xi knows that he can get away with murder in the Taiwan Strain, knowing the Pentagon has no obligation under the Taiwan Relations Act to defend Taiwan. Carter’s Taiwan Relations Act surrendered Taiwan to Beijing, forcing the U.S. to no longer call Taiwan the Republic of China. China has been in a global effort to throw money at third world countries, competing with the U.S. for global influence. When it comes to Africa and South America, China has far more clout in the developing world than the U.S. Xi decided to menace Taiwan after Biden cut a nuclear sub deal with Australia. Flying over 145 war planes over the Taiwan Strait, Xi hopes to divert attention over efforts to determine the origin of the deadly novel coronavirus. Pentagon officials know that the U.S. cannot defend Taiwan from the Beijing invasion.
