May 29th witnessed 38 Chinese military aircraft, seven naval vessels, and four coastguard ships surrounding Taiwan. The Ministry of National Defence of Taiwan tracked this suspicious affair following the Chinese Army’s massive military drills, as Taiwan News reported. Amidst these, twenty-eight aircraft entered the country’s Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ) in the north and southwest after crossing the Taiwan Strait Median Line.
Increasing USA-Taiwan exchanges and William Lai being elected as the President on Jan 24 led to aggressive Chinese military retaliation rendering ‘ strong punishment’ in the form of massive military drills, a few days back. Chinese military aircraft have been tracked 441 times and naval coast guard vessels 254 times, primarily in this month.
The Geopolitics engulfing China, Taiwan, and the USA.
China’s claim over the disputed Taiwan is one of the most important geopolitical issues in the present-day scenario. Taiwan, a self-governed island, is not recognized as an independent territory by China. Beijing sees unification with the mainland as the only future for Taiwan, even by force, if the situation arises.
A Constitution in hand, democratically elected leaders, and 300,000 troops in the army are also not rendering Taiwan diplomatic recognition by most countries.
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The USA has formally established diplomatic ties with Beijing but is still recognized as the most aggressive international supporter of Taiwan. US President Joe Biden has committed to protecting Taiwan militarily and is also bound by law to provide for the same. This however has been a contentious issue in US-China ties and is condemned by Beijing at every instance. China puts immense pressure on all of its diplomatic partners, to not engage with Taiwan in any capacity.
Target 2049 to Achieve Chinese Dream
Xi Jinping, President of the People’s Republic Of China, made aggressive claims regarding the unification of Taiwan. He set 2049 as the target to “achieve the Chinese dream”. China revamped its ‘grey-zone warfare’, under the leadership of Xi Jinping by increasing the number of aircraft and naval ships around Taiwan.
The ‘grey zone warfare’, generally refers to an unclear or middle ground between direct conflict and peace in international politics. US Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, in 2022 visited Taiwan which led to aggressive retaliation by China using military forces expressing condemnation.
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Chinese Foreign Ministry, on May 27, condemned the US lawmakers’ visit to Taiwan and claimed that “ Beijing strongly opposes military contact between US and Taiwan as well as any attempt of the nation to arm Taiwan”. The military drills around Taiwan, conducted by China, as a ‘strong Punishment’ for electing a ‘separatist’ William Lai as the President, was the largest in almost a year.
About Author
This Article has been written by Ms Anuja Choudhary, a public policy enthusiast and Masters in Philosophy from LSR, DU. With a keen eye for authenticity, she is currently honing her craft as a writer to pen down the voices with utmost sincerity and integrity.
