The emerging Globalized International arena is getting more perplexed and intricated than ever before. Taiwan is among the same piece of land that has been claimed by the rising power of China but never governed by it, whereas, the land has been backed by the superpower the United States but never officially recognized by it.
China and Taiwan’s military tensions have been getting worse for the past 40 years. China has a record of entering military jets into the air spaces of Taiwan. Considering the worst scenario of open military interference in Taiwan, the Defense Minister of Taiwan has also warned of any accidental strike between the two countries.
In 1949, when communists seized power, Taiwan broke away from the mainland and now considers it as a sovereign state. Whereas, Beijing considers Taiwan a breakaway province of China, which it aims of retrieving back. Many analysts warn Taiwan of China’s exceeding interest in Taiwan and its hidden aim of deviating Taiwan’s government from heading towards independence. China wants to prevent President Isai Ing-wan to take any further steps towards their official recognition to the world.
Taiwan air defense extends from Taiwan Straits to a large swathe of the Chinese mainland. The way Beijing is intruding on Taiwan’s defense, it is estimated that within a period of the next few years, China would be able to mount a full-scale invasion on the islands.
This is evident via prevailing Chinese status to its soft power and its capacity to invade a state. Upcoming years would exceptionally grant more ease and might to Chinese objectives. Taiwan has been caught between the rising tensions of Washington and Beijing.
US President Joe Biden has recognized China under the ‘One China’ policy rather than Taiwan. And has also affirmed that Xi Jinping has abided by the ‘Taiwan Agreement’ and that two states are required only to abide by it. This had made Washington withstand an unofficial relationship according to ‘Washington’s Taiwan Relation Act’ and sell arms to it.
Sino-US ties are based on the ‘One China’ policy, diverging only at a principle of the reunification of Taiwan with China. Sino-Us relations are shifting from cooperation to competition and can substantiate as the alarming bell for Taiwan.
The intersectional position of Taiwan at the Pacific Ocean, East, and South China sea signifies its importance for Beijing, however, Taiwan is a key element of the toolbox for Washington’s victory over Beijing in the new cold war era.
Author: Qurratulain Tahir