President Joe Biden, 79, continued his belligerent foreign policy against China, threatening new sanctions to prevent China from invading Taiwan. But it’s clear that Biden looks for a conflict with China, after a summer of Congressional visits to Taiwan led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) Aug. 2, slapping 69-year-old Chinese President Xi Jinping in the face. Instead of ratcheting down the hostile rhetoric, the White House now presses for sanctions against Beijing for their military actions against the Republic of China [ROC] based in Taipei. Taipei has been pushing the U.S. and European Union into pressing sanctions on Beijing for its aggressive military stand, often sending fighter jets and warships into the Taiwan Strait. Beijing thinks the Island of Formosa is legitimate territory of Mainland China. Xi states empahtically that Taiwan is part of Communist China.
Xi has no appreciation for the history during the 1949 Maoist Revolution that led Gen. Chaing Kai-Shek to lead a band of Chinese Nationalists to the Island of Formosa to escape Communist Rule. Beijing repeats its talking points that Taiwan is a part of Communist China, regardless of the 73-year-old history where Chinese nationalists live in a free, capitalist society. A recent Chinese white paper calls for sending troops to Taiwan, prompting new calls in the U.S. and EU for sanctions against Beijing. EU officials have been reluctant to get in the middle of the Taiwan-Beijing conflict, preferring business as usual with Mainland China. China accused the U.S. of violating the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, where former President Jimmy Carter promised to recognize only one China, the one in Beijing. Carter cancelled the 1954 U.S.-Sino Mutual Defense Treaty.
Taiwan wants the EU to put Xi on notice that if he were to attack the island they’ll be prepared with crippling economic sanctions. Reeling from the worst inflation in 40 years and shrinking Gross Domestic Product, Brussels is reluctant to promise anything that could rock the boat with Beijing. Taiwan wants support from the U.S. and EU but, because of the Taiwan Relations Act, is a non-entity when it comes to recognition by the U.S. and EU community. Carter made clear in signing the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act that the U.S. would recognize only one China. China’s recent aggression toward Taiwan stems from Xi thinking the U.S. breached the Taiwan Relations Act, especially when Biden said May 23 that he would defend Taipen in the event of a Beijing invasion. Xi believes that the Island of Formosa is part of Mainland China, not subject to invasion at all.
Xi thinks that Beijing has every right to Taipei the same it had with Hong Kong after the 1997 hand over from the British Government to Communist China. Xi has had his run in with pro-Democracy protester in Hong Kong, cracking down in the last two years on dissidents hoping that Hong Kong could declare independence from Beijing. Xi set those demonstrations down, prompting cries from the U.S. and EU to respect the rights of Hong Kong residents. Taiwan has asked the EU to consider contingency plans if Xi decided to invade Taipei. All the belligerent talk of sanctions from Taipei is bound to antagonize Beijing, knowing the ROC plans to get the U.S. and EU to back the island’s independence from Beijing. But all the talk of sanctions only provokes Xi and the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] looking for a confrontation with Taipei. Applying sanctions on Beijig is problematic.
China provides the hub of manufacturing for the U.S. and EU. Any attempt to apply news sanctions could be met with retaliatory measures by Beijing, hurting an already vulnerable U.S. and EU economies. “The potential imposition of sanctions on China is a far more complex exercise than sanctions on Russia, given U.S. and allies’ extensive entanglements with the Chinese economy,” said Nazak Nikakhtar, a former U.S. Commerce Dept. official. Taiwan pushing for possible sanctions could further antagonize Beijing, who’s patience has worn thin. Taiwan knows that Xi considers Taiwan a part of Mainland China, despite the fact that Biden said May 23 that he would defend Taiwan from a Chinese Communist invasion. With the U.S. fighting a proxy war against the Russian Federation in Ukraine, Biden can ill-afford to open up another front in Taiwan fighting Communist China.
Considering sanctions against Beijing to stop as possible Taiwan invasion, the U.S. is barking up the wrong tree, knowing that Xi is already at the breaking point when it comes to Taiwan. White House officials have their hands full in Ukraine, paying all of Ukraine’s government salaries and funding the war. While there’s been some recent progress in the Kharkiv region, there’s zero evidence that Ukraine’s poised to retake the entire Black Sea coast lost to the Kremlin. Speaking about sanctions against Beijing can only make a bad situation worse in the Taiwan Strait. If the U.S. or EU wants to deescalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait, they need to avoid any talk of sanctions for possible military intervention. Biden found out the hard way that not all countries back his crippling economic sanction against the Russian Federation. New sanctions against Beijing would be disastrous.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
