Every such operation “to guarantee freedom of navigation” is condemned by China, which Taiwan considers its territory.
I would like to see what the United States government would say about the right of navigation if Chinese or Russian destroyers would enforce “freedom of navigation” within a few miles of the US maritime border …
The ‘One China’ principle
The island of Taiwan is self-governing with its own administration since 1949, when General Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) took refuge there after being defeated in the civil war with the communists of Mao Zedong.
In the 1980s, for the unification of the country, Deng Xiaoping, the then president of the People’s Republic of China, proposed a policy of “One country, two systems”, which included the coexistence of the political and economic models of mainland China and certain regions, including Taiwan.
However, already under the leadership of Xi Jinping, the Asian giant saw the need to ensure the principle of ‘One China’, in order to prevent attempts by foreign forces that support the independence aspirations of some self-governing regions. The new approach included the erosion of Hong Kong’s independence. This was rejected by the Taiwanese authorities, who in recent years opted for a more belligerent position towards mainland China.
A new security alliance for the Indo-Pacific
The recent escalation of tensions around the island is mainly due to the increase in geopolitical discrepancies between China and the US. The US authorities decided to increase international pressure against the Asian country, creating in mid-September AUKUS, a new security alliance for the Indo-Pacific together with Australia and the United Kingdom.
The new plan, which will arm Australia with nuclear submarines, was greeted in China with great concern about “undermining regional stability and intensifying the arms race.” In addition, Washington promoted the founding of the Quad group, together with Japan, Australia and India, in order to analyze the “challenge” that China poses in the region.
It was also recently revealed that a special operations unit of the US Marine Corps has been secretly operating in Taiwan to train the military for a year.
As this confrontation escalates, the balance of power around Taiwan is drastically shifting into a dangerous new phase and it seems increasingly possible that a bad move could erupt into armed conflict.
