U.S. Shifts on Taiwan – China is Outraged
Chinese officials are furious over the US State Department’s recent change to an online fact sheet regarding Washington’s relationship with Taiwan.
A summary which previously referred to Taiwan as a part of China without its own government and explicitly denounced support for its independence now describes the island nation as a “leading democracy,” a “technological powerhouse,” and a “key US partner in the Indo-Pacific.”
The text goes on to highlight the US and Taiwan’s shared values, strong economic ties, and “people-to-people” relationships and finishes by vowing to help “maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” by assisting the island with its defensive capabilities.
The update also added a reference to the Six Assurances, a set of promises made to Taiwan in 1982 by former US President Robert Reagan.
The change has been widely interpreted as indicating a policy shift, though officials claim otherwise.
“That fact sheet has not been updated in years,” said State Department spokesman Ned Price. “You know that our fact sheets are regularly updated. I think we care most about ensuring that our relationships around the world are reflected accurately in our fact sheets.”
Chinese officials immediately condemned the update, which Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian described as a “petty act of fictionalizing and hollowing out the one-China principle,” and sent 18 jets screaming into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
The ADIZ is an area more expansive than Taiwan’s official airspace that is patrolled in order to give the island more time to respond to an attack.
Taipei scrambled aircraft to meet the Chinese incursion, which included bombers, fighters, and anti-submarine aircraft.
Beijing said the exercise was designed to ‘test and improve combat capability’ but was also a direct response to ‘wrong signals’ sent by the US.
“The US bad actions and tricks are completely futile and very dangerous. Those who play with fire will burn themselves,” said Shi Yilu, a spokesman for the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Theater Command.
China also sent 100 sorties from its Liaoning aircraft carrier towards Okinawa, a Japanese island near Taiwan that is home to a US military base.
“They’re testing out the endurance and capacity [of the Liaoning], and the last few cruises were testing things such as underway replenishment and endurance,” explained Taiwanese military consultant Liao “Kitsch” Yen-fan.
Meanwhile, the US continues to conduct freedom of navigation patrols through the Taiwan Strait and has sent at least two Navy warships to the area this month.
China claims the presence of US ships in the Taiwan Strait means Washington supports secessionist forces in Taiwan.
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Taiwan split from China in 1949 during a Communist takeover and has been fighting for independence ever since. China claims ownership of the island and demands reunification even at the cost of military conflict.
China has not denounced Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, an event that has significantly escalated tensions between China and Taiwan but has strengthened the island’s relationship with the US.
“Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is not the first time an authoritarian regime invaded its neighbor and, unfortunately, it won’t be the last,” warned Florida Senator Marco Rubio (R), who recently introduced a bill to fast-track weapons sales to Taiwan and improve joint military training programs. “We’re going to start making China pay a greater price for what they are doing all over the world,” added Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who led a small delegation of US lawmakers to Ukraine earlier this month to meet with Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen. “We will stand with you.”
Editor’s Note: This is a tiny change in text that adds up to a substantial difference in outlook. Hate to credit the Biden Administration with gutsy move, but this is a step in the right direction.
Editor’s Postscript: Biden just announced that the US would intervene to defend Taiwan. This is a massive commitment and a de facto declaration of war. Biden did not have to do this. I knew he would screw it up.
References:
China rebukes US for changing Taiwan wording on State Department website
China blasts US over wording change on State Department’s Taiwan website
https://nypost.com/2022/05/10/china-rips-us-over-wording-change-on-state-dept-taiwan-website/
State Department changes wording on Taiwan document by STRIKING statement on US opposition to its independence amid ongoing invasion fears, prompting Beijing to complain about ‘political manipulation’
China, US exchange barbs over military maneuvers near Taiwan
China says it conducted exercises near Taiwan
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-says-carried-out-drills-near-taiwan-2022-05-08/
Taiwan forced to scramble jets in response to China military drills
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-says-carried-out-drills-near-taiwan-2022-05-08/
Taiwan forced to scramble jets in response to China military drills
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-says-carried-out-drills-near-taiwan-2022-05-08/
China holds military drills around Taiwan as US delegation visits
China conducts fresh military drills around Taiwan as warning for US ‘bad actions’
The chinks hit us with Covid. Where’s our outrage instead of the stupidity of blaming Trump?
Turnip took the job of commander in chief responsible for defense of the nation. The numbers say he failed miserably.
Your made up numbers say that you’re a fucking idiot. We had the best economy in several years and were energy independent for the first time in 70 years. But look at us now. Gas prices and everything else getting more unaffordable every day. And we are in much more danger than ever before. But you’ve been told all of these facts before. And there’s plenty more. But you are either a damned fool or unamerican. Probably both
I was actually referring to covid where Trump did not defend the country and hundreds of thousands died.
And, yeah, the economy was great, Trump borrowed more, put us in more debt that any other US President in history, returned a GDP growth worse that Herbert Hoover’s Great Recession. No wonder you had a few extra dollars in your pockets.
Maybe you should drink some Clorox and shine a bright light up you ass to figure out what a bad covid response is.
Your sundown president has caused more deaths than Trump you fucking moron. You’re the one who wants something up your ass. And our National debt is going up up up with president dementia
Did I say Biden did a better job? Well, he did, given the fucking mess Trump left him including no distribution plan for the vaccines…..Trump also left him his constituency that his disinformation campaign on vaccine efficacy propagandized them against, and they were soon the majority of the deaths. Fucker even hid his own vaccination.
Under Biden, the rate of debt increase has been greatly reduced from the years of Turnip.
“Donald Trump
At the end of fiscal year 2020, the debt was $26.9 trillion. Trump added $6.7 trillion to the debt between fiscal year 2017 and fiscal year 2020, a 33.1% increase……”
“In his FY 2021 budget, Trump’s budget included a $966 billion deficit.10 However, the national debt actually grew by $1.5 trillion between October 1, 2020, and October 1, 2021.”
FY 2021: $1.5 trillion
FY 2020: $4.2 trillion
FY 2019: $1.2 trillion
FY 2018: $1.3 trillion
Joe Biden
On October 1, 2021, at the end of fiscal year 2021, the national debt was $28.4 trillion. Between the end of fiscal year 2020 and the end of fiscal year 2021, the national debt grew $1.5 trillion, a 5.6% increase year over year. For fiscal year 2022, President Biden’s budget includes a deficit of $1.84 trillion, and by the end of January 2022, the national debt had already grown to exceed $30.0 trillion.” So, he will have trouble making his plan, but still lower than Turnip at this point.
Joe,
Given you past batting record concerning foreign affairs, I take your post scripts with a grain of salt.
But… I thought y’all liked the pro war, tough talking authoritarian types? Little rocket man ect… now you have an issue with it?
My batting average is excellent.
Yes, the Russian army has encircled and destroyed the Ukrainian army that Zelensky sold out for all that money. You hit that one out of the ballpark Joe……
That’s funny. You hate Trump and now have a different president. And you think that this idiot is doing a good job. I knew that liberals are extremely stupid but this is amazing. I won’t try to list all of the problems that Biden owns. You’ve already been told. You’re just too damned stupid to see it
We can’t have 2 wars at the same time ( we tried that under another Republican president, it didn’t work out)
So China is gunna have to wait it’s turn while we fight trump’s civil war
It won’t take long. The Trump people will win
I almost got ran over by a , oh hell what was it? Oh yeah. It was Bigfoot. My goodness. He’s hung.
This is not the real frank stetson
We can tell the difference, the other one is funny.
What’s funny is that Joe’s “free speech” protects Joe’s name but not mine. Joe’s free speech protects Larry’s name, but not mine.
Apparently some speech is more free around here than others. Apparently Joe offered free speech restrictions when it benefits Joe.