Washington’s claim about China’s action against Taiwan

According to IRNA’s report on Tuesday, quoting from the website of the “New York Times”, as the time of US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is approaching in the heat of tensions between Beijing and Washington, the administration of “Joe Biden” is wary of any action by China to closing the Taiwan Strait and prefers Pelosi to cancel her trip to the region.

According to this newspaper, the concerns of the Biden administration regarding China’s statements and actions on Taiwan this summer have increased so much that some White House officials are worried that Chinese leaders will probably deny access to this self-governing island in the next year and a half. Act by closing the Taiwan Strait through which US Navy ships regularly pass.

The Americans say that concerns in Washington have intensified in recent days and that the Biden administration is quietly trying to dissuade Pelosi from the trip next month.

Pelosi is the first speaker of the US House of Representatives to visit Taiwan since 1997, and the Chinese government has repeatedly condemned her plan for this trip and threatened to retaliate.

The New York Times continues to write: Chinese officials insisted this summer that contrary to the views of the United States and other countries, no part of the Taiwan Strait can be considered international waters. The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said last month that China has sovereignty and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait.

Therefore, American officials do not know whether China intends to implement these claims or not.

Chris Coons, a senator from the state of Delaware and one of the people close to Biden, said in this regard: Washington is paying attention to what lessons China, its army and the president of this country have learned from the war in Ukraine.

This media continued: Chinese officials know that the Biden administration, based on what it learned from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is trying to shape its arms sales to Taiwan in order to turn this democratic island into something like a “hedgehog” that is equipped Effective weapons will be used to prevent possible enemy attacks.

On the other hand, Washington officials, although they are worried about any tension-causing action with the Beijing government, say that they do not have specific information indicating possible actions of China towards Taiwan.

Therefore, the main question is what China’s top officials think about the strengths of its military vis-à-vis Taiwan, the United States, and Washington’s regional allies, including Japan and South Korea.

Last week, General Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called China’s military behavior significantly more aggressive in the Asia-Pacific region.

Chinese officials have also condemned the continuous flow of visits by senior American figures to Taiwan and consider it similar to formal diplomatic interaction with the island.

“Zhao Lijian,” the spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said in a press conference yesterday: “If the United States insists on continuing these actions, China will take decisive measures to preserve its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and held Washington responsible for all its serious consequences.” .

At the same time, Pelosi’s team says that planning for the Speaker of the House of Representatives’ trip to Taiwan is underway despite Beijing’s increasing anger, and Pelosi will go to Taipei on a military plane, as usual for such visits by American officials. However, some analysts have warned Washington that China could send planes to “escort” Pelosi’s plane and prevent it from landing.

But some American officials, who did not want to be named, while considering such concerns regarding Pelosi’s trip as legitimate, called Beijing’s action in preventing the landing of Pelosi’s plane impossible and called it a serious escalation of tension.

Last week, the Speaker of the House of Representatives emphasized that supporting Taiwan is important for the United States, saying that he does not speak publicly about his travel plans.

Last Wednesday, in response to reporters’ questions about the proposed trip, Biden said that “the military doesn’t think it’s a good idea right now.” He also added that he plans to talk to Xi in the next 10 days. Biden and Xi last talked to each other via video call in March, and in this call, the US president warned that any possible help from China to Russia in the attack on Ukraine would have consequences.

“Susan L. Shirk,” one of the former senior officials of the US State Department, says about the danger of Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan: Xi may see this trip as a humiliating act and take hasty action.

Xi Yinhong, a professor of international relations in Beijing, also says that Beijing is looking for a military response that is seen as strong, but not so aggressive that it leads to a larger conflict. He then noted that no one can predict the details of Beijing’s possible response to Pelosi’s visit.

Hu Shijin, the former editor of the Communist Party’s Global Times newspaper, wrote on his Twitter account: “Chinese army fighters may follow Pelosi’s plane and enter Taiwan’s airspace.” He further added: Beijing’s action will be “a shocking military response”.

While speculations about Pelosi’s visit have risen between both the American and Chinese sides, Taiwan’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Joan Ou said Monday that Taipei had not received any “conclusive” information about Ms. Pelosi’s visit.

Many in Taiwan are worried that if the US House Speaker’s trip to Taiwan is canceled, Beijing will think that its intimidation tactics will work.

Therefore, in Washington, some Republican representatives have publicly asked Pelosi to continue this trip as a sign of taking a stance against China.

Ivan Kanapati, a senior member of the “Center for Strategic and International Studies” and director of China at the National Security Council during Trump and Biden’s presidency, considered the cancellation of this trip a sign of weakening Washington’s efforts to strengthen relations between Taiwan and other democracies.

He added: A big part of China’s concern about America’s actions is because Washington is actually opening up space for other countries, and this is what China is really worried about the most. It means more legitimacy of Taiwan’s government at the international level.

Meanwhile, some other analysts point to less risky ways to support Taiwan. For example, Washington could send a senior military officer to sign a bilateral trade agreement to help Taiwan reduce its economic reliance on China.

US military officials believe that Chinese air and naval attacks on Taiwan are difficult and if Beijing is determined to do this, it will do so gradually. According to these analysts, Beijing may first take limited measures in this regard, citing the recent statement about the Taiwan Strait. Another theory is that China will probably try to seize a foreign island close to the Chinese coast.

On the other hand, American officials know that Beijing has not yet decided what action to take. However, Washington is regularly simulating the conditions and the war game.

“Jake Sullivan”, the US National Security Adviser, emphasized on Friday that China is learning from the war in Ukraine. He then added: After years of buying expensive defense systems, Taiwan pays more attention to citizen mobilization and information warfare.

This official of the Biden administration also noted that meeting the defense needs of Taiwan will put more pressure on the production of US military hardware.