China reacted today to 80-year-old President Joe Biden’s plans to sell more offensive weapons to Taiwan. Reacting to Biden’s plans to supply more lethal weapons to Taiwan, much the same as Ukraine, China said it is “extremely wrong and dangerous” to supply Taipei more weapons. China’s Peoples Liberation Army [PLA[ “continues to strengthen military training and preparations and will resolutely smash any form of Taiwanese independence secession along with attempts at outside interference, and will resolutely defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Tan Kefei, PLA Spokesman. Tan refers to Biden’s promise to supply Taiwan with more defensive and offensive weapons with which to resist any attempt by Beijing at reunification of the Island of Formosa. Since the end of the 1949 Maoist Revolution, the U.S. has supplied Taiwan with weapons.
Before former President Jimmy Carter signed the Taiwan Relations Act Aug. 10, 1979, the U.S. had the 1954 Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, obligating the U.S. to defend Taiwan from a Communist takeover. Chinese President Xi Jinping claims the 23 million Taiwan population as par of Mainland China, despite the long history of democracy and U.S. protection. Beijing has stepped up military drills around Taiwan, practicing for a possible invasion. China has showcased its latest warship and jet fighters relentlessly in the Taiwan Strait since 83-year-old House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiipei Aug. 4, 2022 over Xi’s objections. Biden reacted to China’s provocations in the Taiwan Strait telling the press Sept. 23, 2022 he would commit U.S. troops to repelling any possible Chinese invasion. U.S. officials continue to make visits to Taipei, all antagonizing the Chinese Communist Party.
Biden recently approved $500 million in military sales to Taiwan, committing to sending at least 100 advisers to help prepare Taiwan to resists any military incursion by Beijing. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, 66, questions why deliveries are delayed, prompting a Pentagon to say pandemic delays and priority supplies of weapons to Ukraine have left U.S. stockpiles backlogged. Taiwan has asked for Harpoon anti-ship missiles, F-15 fighter jets, shoulder-fired Javelin and Stinger missiles and High Mobility Artillery Rocket System [HIMARS] truck-mounted precision rocket launchers supplied to Ukraine. Tan said that attempts to seek independence from Beijing would fail. Any attempt to “seek independence by relying on the United States and “seek independence by military might” are a “dead end,” said Tan, warning the U.S. that such attempts would fail and lead to war.
Biden has made a bad situation with Beijing much worse by promising deliveries of offensive and defensive weapons to Taiipei. Biden has strong support on both sides of the aisle when it comes to defending Taiwan, regardless of the consequences. Warmongering has become a regular part of the Biden White House, where he’s pulled the U.S. into a proxy war using Ukrainian troops against the Russian Federation. Xi watches carefully what’s happening in Ukraine because he sees the same thing happening in the Indo-Pacific zone. Biden has taken decades of cooperative relations with Russia and China and put them on a war footing. Kremlin officials see the Ukraine war as a conflict between the U.S. and Moscow. Xi sees Biden undermining China’s sovereignty in the Pacific Rim, trying at the G7 to form a NATPO-like coalition of Indo-Pacific nations to confront Beijing.
Biden’s Russian and Chinese foreign policy has destabilized world peace and left the global economy on shaky ground. Peace efforts from France, Brazil, China and South Africa have all fallen of deaf ears in Washington and Kiev. Instead of letting peacemakers end the conflict and negotiate a mutually acceptable settlement, Biden and Zelensky have vowed to press on with their battle against the Kremlin. Yesterday’s aerial bombardment of Kiev shows that Putin doesn’t plan on surrendering to Washington or Kiev. No matter how sophisticated Patriot Missile Batteries defend Ukrainian cities, the bombardment continues. Ending the war would allow Zelensky the opportunity to negotiate the best possible settlement from Putin. If the war goes on much longer, all bets are off, including the use of more dangerous weapons. Putin has kept the nuclear option on the table.
Biden can’t see how he’s damaged U.S. national security by waging a deadly proxy war against the Kremlin. Putting the U.S. on a war footing, Biden trashed decades of détente and arms control agreement attempting to make the world a safer place in the nuclear age. Biden capitalizes on Russia hysteria on Capitol Hill, with both sides of the aisle beating the war drums. Only 76-year-oldformer President Donald Trump now running for president in 2024 opposes the Ukraine conflict. Trump said he would end the conflict in 24-hours if elected president. Former National Security Adviser John Bolton told CNN yesterday that foreign leaders laughed at the former president. Yet no other U.S. leader ever went behind the DMZ to shake the hand of a North Korean leader. If Trump is forced out of the race, there’s no one —other than Robert F. Kenney Jr.—committed to ending the Ukraine War.
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.
