Amid the global turbulence of the Israel-Palestine conflict and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the US on Friday released a report showing that China increased warplane incursions into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone by 79 percent from last year, indicating that Beijing might create unrest in the Asia-Pacific region.
The US Department of Defense’s annual report on China’s military prowess warned that Chinese warplane incursions into Taiwan’s defense zone last year rose to 1,737 from 972 in 2021.
China has for a long time used military and political pressure to pursue its goal of taking over Taiwan. Its hegemonic expansionism has become even more worrying with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the past two years taking more aggressive action in the Asia-Pacific and Indo-Pacific regions against foreign aircraft and vessels as it seeks regional dominance.
The Pentagon on Tuesday last week released a rare report with video clips showing 15 of more than 180 cases of China’s “coercive and risky operational behavior” against US aircraft in the East China and South China seas since 2021, much more in the past two years than in the decade before that.
Its aggressive tactics increase to 300 cases if US allies are included, such as an incident in the South China Sea on Monday last week in which a Chinese fighter jet cut off a Canadian patrol plane and dropped flares in its path, while another Chinese fighter flew within 5m of it.
On Sunday, a Chinese Coast Guard ship and an accompanying vessel rammed a Philippine Coast Guard ship and a military-run supply boat in the South China Sea, which was more risky behavior that contravened international law.
Japanese Ministry of Defense data show that Japanese fighter jets were scrambled 778 times from April last year to March this year, with the majority of the missions having to deal with threats from Chinese aircraft and the rest to counter aggressive activities from Russia.
The wars in Ukraine and Gaza have raised concern that China might use the opportunity to take action against Taiwan.
However, given that China’s aggressive behavior has targeted several countries, concern about its ambitions should be extended.
If the Chinese military causes a major incident — even accidentally — it might spark a military conflict in the region, which has a long history of territorial and sovereignty disputes.
Taiwan has remained alert and calmly monitored the situation to reduce the risk of conflict across the Taiwan Strait. At the same time, it must enhance its surveillance and defense capabilities, as Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) has vowed to do.
Taiwan has also consistently expressed willingness to cooperate with international partners to maintain stability in the region.
Events in Ukraine and the Middle East might embolden China as it oppresses its neighbors and intensifies its international activities. It might hope that the US’ commitments to Israel and Ukraine would leave it unable to support its allies in Asia.
While US President Joe Biden has announced plans to seek US$100 billion in emergency funding, with portions to go to Israel, Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region, and the American Institute in Taiwan has assured that support for Taiwan remained a “priority” for Washington, democratic states in Asia should be cognizant of the escalating Chinese threat and forge stronger ties to deter its provocations. If Asian democracies share responsibility, they can help ensure regional peace.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
In an article published on this page on Tuesday, Kaohsiung-based journalist Julien Oeuillet wrote that “legions of people worldwide would care if a disaster occurred in South Korea or Japan, but the same people would not bat an eyelid if Taiwan disappeared.” That is quite a statement. We are constantly reading about the importance of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC), hailed in Taiwan as the nation’s “silicon shield” protecting it from hostile foreign forces such as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and so crucial to the global supply chain for semiconductors that its loss would cost the global economy US$1
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
Sasha B. Chhabra’s column (“Michelle Yeoh should no longer be welcome,” March 26, page 8) lamented an Instagram post by renowned actress Michelle Yeoh (楊紫瓊) about her recent visit to “Taipei, China.” It is Chhabra’s opinion that, in response to parroting Beijing’s propaganda about the status of Taiwan, Yeoh should be banned from entering this nation and her films cut off from funding by government-backed agencies, as well as disqualified from competing in the Golden Horse Awards. She and other celebrities, he wrote, must be made to understand “that there are consequences for their actions if they become political pawns of
RSS