The US aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group, including a destroyer and a guided missile cruiser, left Singapore on Monday heading for the South China Sea and Taiwan.
This deployment, clearly linked to the planned highly provocative visit to Taiwan by Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi, greatly increases military and political tensions between the United States and China, which has the potential to trigger a nuclear war. catastrophic.
“Everyone can see clearly who is the biggest threat to the South China Sea and the peace and stability of the Asian region,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a briefing. a press briefing on Thursday.
Despite warnings from Beijing, including President Xi Jinping, and public statements of reserve from the White House, Pelosi and other congressional officials yesterday embarked on a tour of East Asia, deliberately leaving open the option to land in Taiwan.
Pelosi’s Asian mission itinerary, as reported by US media, includes Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. The latter are all considered allies of the United States against China, and Taiwan is on the list of “provisional” countries.
To fuel speculation, Pelosi declined to answer reporters’ questions about his plans in Taiwan, saying Wednesday, “I never talk about my travels. It is a danger for me”. This remark literally accuses China of being ready to attack its mission.
Regardless of White House claims that it has no jurisdiction over Pelosi’s decision to fly to Taiwan on a military plane, US Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said this week that the American armed forces were ready to intervene against any Chinese response.
“We will do what is necessary to ensure a safe and secure process for their visit. And I’ll leave it at that,” Milley told reporters after the 24th Indo-Pacific Defense Chiefs Conference, held in Sydney over two days last week.
With irresponsible disregard for the danger of provoking military conflict, Milley added, “So what that gives, we’ll have to wait and see.”
The Associated Press reported on Wednesday that Pentagon officials said such a US military commitment would include aircraft carriers, fighter jets and “surveillance assets” to protect Pelosi as he flies to and from Taiwan. , as well as on the ground.
Whether or not Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan takes place, these inflammatory comments are fueling tensions by declaring the United States’ intention to take military action against China on or around the island, which China considers as a breakaway province and which is only 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the mainland.
Xi has strongly opposed a visit by Pelosi, second in line to the US presidency, to the island, which would constitute a further violation of the one-China policy, under which the United States States have not recognized Taiwan as a country since 1979.
In a two-hour phone conversation with US President Joe Biden on Thursday, the Chinese news agency reported that Xi told Biden: “Public opinion should not be violated, and when playing with fire , we get burned. I hope the United States understands that.”
The brief White House account of that call made no mention of the escalating confrontation. It says Biden told Xi that US policy toward Taiwan had not changed and Washington was “firmly opposed” to unilateral efforts that seek to alter the status quo or undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
In fact, successive US governments of Obama, Trump and Biden have deliberately undermined the one China policy. Including sending troops, increasing arms sales and sending officials and delegations to Taiwan. The Biden administration has approved four major arms sales to Taiwan, and a fifth, worth $108 million, must be approved by Congress imminently.
Pelosi would be the first sitting House Speaker to travel to Taiwan since far-right Republican Newt Gingrich visited in 1997. This travel threat comes under much more incendiary conditions, as part of the escalation of steps taken by Washington to repudiate the One China policy.
In Sydney, in a transparent attempt to blame any conflict on Beijing, and thus justify a war, Milley said he had ordered a study of China’s actions in the South China Sea and other areas. from the Pacific region revealing a significant increase in “aggressive” actions. Asked about the details, Milley said the report has been classified, thus shielded from public scrutiny. Nonetheless, he insisted that China’s activity “seems to imply that it wants to intimidate or dominate” other nations.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, senior Pentagon official Ely Ratner echoed Milley’s characterization of China’s “irresponsible behavior.” He said it was “only a matter of time” before China caused a “major” incident.
These comments present a conflict with China as inevitable. They follow Biden’s three public statements since taking office that the United States would go to war to defend Taiwan if it were allegedly attacked by China. Biden’s comments reverse the longstanding US policy of “strategic ambiguity” ― not committing the United States to defending Taiwan under any circumstances was intended to block a provocative declaration of Taiwanese independence and conflict with China.
Pelosi’s plans are proceeding despite warnings from Chinese defense officials. “If the United States insists on going its own way, the Chinese military will never sit idly by and will certainly take strong measures to thwart any interference from an outside force,” said spokesman Colonel Tan Kefei. from the Chinese Ministry of Defence.
Sending a group of aircraft carriers into the narrow strait separating Taiwan from the mainland would in itself be a provocation. In 1995, President Bill Clinton sent the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to the strait after China conducted missile tests near territory claimed by Taiwan.
The USS Kitty Hawk appears to be the last US aircraft carrier to cross the strait, in 2007, but other US warships have done so month after month. USS Benfold passed through the Taiwan Strait on July 19, after sailing near the disputed Spratly Islands on July 16 and the Paracel Islands on July 13.
Liu Pengyu, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the United States, highlighted Beijing’s concerns about Pelosi’s trip. “On the Taiwan issue, we have expressed our position loud and clear,” Liu Pengyu said. “The Embassy is making every effort to prevent the peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, and the stability of China-US relations, from being damaged by the potential visit of Speaker of the House Nancy. Pelosi in Taiwan”.
Other Chinese personalities, in particular those associated with the Global Times, a hawkish state organ, warned against military reactions. Hu Xijin, former editor of Global Timescalled Pelosi’s planned visit an “invasion.”
China has long warned that it would forcibly reunite Taiwan with the mainland if the island declares independence, which Washington’s actions are now encouraging. Last month, Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe attended the Shangri-La dialogue in Singapore. He told US officials present: “If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, we will not hesitate to fight, and we will do so at all costs.”
Under these conditions, both Democrats and Republicans in Congress, as well as the corporate media, urged Pelosi to visit Taiwan. These figures include prominent ex-generals and members of Donald Trump’s fascist Republican leadership.
House Armed Services Committee Democratic Chairman Adam Smith said, “I don’t think we should let China dictate anything like that to us.” Nancy Pelosi is the Speaker of the House, she’s the most powerful person in the country. If she wants to visit Taiwan, she should be able to.
The United States is irresponsibly provoking conflict with Beijing both because it sees China as the main threat to its global hegemony and as a way to channel working-class discontent amid a deep economic and social crisis. internally, against a supposed external enemy.
US military planners view Taiwan as a key strategic platform for an assault on China. It is also a key economic asset, as it produces around 92 percent of the world’s advanced semiconductor chips.
Just as Washington has, for years, erected the Ukrainian military as a stronghold against Russia in an effort to provoke the current disastrous war, the United States is bolstering the Taiwanese military and seeking to pressure China into military action in the purpose of weakening and destabilizing their rival.
(Article first published in English on July 30, 2022)
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