Global Courant 2023-05-15 20:59:40
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has softened its stance on issues in Taiwan and emphasized peaceful reunification ahead of the 49th G7 Summit, to be held May 19-21 in Hiroshima, Japan.
Chinese media also emphasizes that China will face a huge crisis if it has to divide its military to fight against the US, Japan, South Korea and Australia simultaneously in a war in the Taiwan Strait.
Wang Huning, one of the seven standing committee members of the CCP Central Committee’s politburo, explained the party’s new strategy on Taiwan at an internal meeting on May 10. He stressed that the mainland will deepen its economic cooperation with Taiwan and step-by-step exchanges across the strait.
Beijing’s softened tone contrasts sharply with the People’s Liberation Army’s moves to deploy fighter jets, naval vessels and military drones in the Taiwan Strait early this month, when 25 US defense contractors hosted the Taiwan-US Defense Industry Forum in Taipei in Taipei. May 3 attended.
Wang Huning is head of the party’s Central Policy Research Office and close associate of Xi Jinping. Photo: Communist Party of China
“It is necessary to fully, accurately and comprehensively implement the party’s overall strategy for resolving the Taiwan issue in the new era, and firmly grasp the dominance and initiative in relations between the two countries,” Wang said during the annual Taiwanese work conference on May 9. and 10.
“We must adhere to the one China principle and the ‘1992 consensus’ to promote the peaceful development of relations between the two countries,” he said. “We must uphold the concept of ‘one family on both sides of the strait’, respect, care for and benefit Taiwanese compatriots, strengthen systems and policies that improve the well-being of Taiwanese and promote integration and development across the Strait continue to deepen. ”
Warnings from the Panditocracy
Significantly, over the past weekend several articles notable for their candor have been freely circulated on China’s normally strictly censored internet promoting the drawbacks of a war in the Taiwan Strait.
On Sunday, a Jiangsu-based writer published a article titled: “I am not in favor of reunification by force! A war will only exhaust people and waste money and will not benefit the general public.”
“Military reunification will not only create casualties, but also inflict irreparable losses on Taiwan’s economy and society,” he said. “Taiwan is our brother province, not our enemy. The peaceful resolution of relations between the two sides of the Strait is in the fundamental interest of the people on both sides of the Strait, and it is also one of the necessary conditions for realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”
The writer adds: “Against the backdrop of intensified disputes in the South China Sea, we should focus more on pushing for a peaceful solution to the problem, rather than falling into the vortex of military confrontations. More importantly, the Taiwan issue is the issue of the Chinese people themselves, and we should not leave the issue to outside forces to solve.”
He says military reunification will only bring more hardship and loss to Taiwan’s Chinese relatives, friends and compatriots. He says China should take a more ingenious approach, through cooperation and negotiation, to make the people of the Taiwanese region accept his love and kindness and make them friends and partners of the mainland.
Battles on multiple fronts
“Once we begin to unify Taiwan by force, we must prepare for the worst: a multi-front battle,” writes a columnist from Zhejiang in a article published Sunday. “If the US, Japan, South Korea and Australia take action together, we will have to fight on all four sides from the waters off Okinawa Island and in the Bohai Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea.
“Our main concern is that the US has already deployed troops to many military bases around the Taiwan Strait and continues to provide weapons there,” he says. “US troops in Okinawa are among the greatest threats to us.”
He says it is likely that one day the US will send its carrier strike force and nuclear submarines to the Taiwan Strait and pose a major threat to China.
“Due to the unstable situation in the Korean peninsula, South Korea may not send a large number of troops to the Taiwan Strait, but it may send a few and then start military action on the peninsula,” he said. “If Australia and the US join forces, it will be a huge crisis for us in the South China Sea.”
He concludes that while China is capable of fighting on all four sides, it needs to further increase its military strength.
It is not common for articles like this to be published on the heavily censored Chinese internet. They have remained available since Monday.
Blinken’s visit to China
After the spy balloon incident broke out in late January, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken canceled a trip to Beijing he had planned for early February. After US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California on April 5, Blinken suggested visiting China in April, but was turned down by Beijing.
US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns said on May 2 during a webinar hosted by The Stimson Center, a Washington-based think tank, that the US wants to resume more channels of communication with China and hopes that the Taiwan Strait will remain peaceful in the future.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang (left) and US Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns Photo: Twitter, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
On May 9, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told Burns at a meeting in Beijing that China will only talk to the US if the latter stops addressing pressing issues in Taiwan, overreacts in cases such as the recent balloon incidents, and stops imposing of new sanctions on Chinese technology. sector.
Qin-Burns’ meeting was followed by Wang’s speech on May 9 and 10 and ten o’clock encounter between National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in Vienna on May 11.
After the meeting between Wang and Sullivan, the White House said the two sides had engaged in candid, substantive and constructive discussions on, among others, key issues related to U.S.-China relations, global and regional security issues, Russia’s war against Ukraine, and the Strait-to-Street dispute. Xinhua reported that Wang reiterated China’s position on issues in Taiwan during the meeting.
Wu Xinbo, Professor and Dean of the Institute of International Studies and Director of the Center for American Studies, Fudan University, said in an interview on May 12 that whether Blinken will be invited to visit Beijing will be determined by Washington’s position at the G7 summit.
“Since the balloon incident, relations between China and the US have deteriorated due to the various measures taken by the US, including Taiwan and trade issues,” Wu said. “China is now asking the US what it will do to stop the further deterioration of the relationship between the two countries.”
“A series of actions recently taken by the US and its allies have negatively impacted the security situation around China and in the Asia-Pacific region and have affected our core interests and Taiwanese affairs,” he said.
He said he told Burns, who was visiting Fudan University in late April, that if the US is using the G7 summit to criticize China, they should not hope that China-US relations will improve this year.
On May 12, German finance minister Christian Lindner said G7 finance leaders had discussed whether developed countries should diversify their supply chains and reduce their over-dependence on China. He said emerging countries and low-income countries could play a role.
Prior to this, the media reported last month that US President Joe Biden would sign an executive order banning US companies and private equity and venture capital funds from investing in Chinese microchips, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology and clean energy projects and companies. Biden then planned to announce these investment restrictions ahead of the G7 summit and solicit US allies for support.
Read: China ‘will talk’, but only if the US changes its tone
Follow Jeff Pao on Twitter at @jeffpao3
Similar:
Loading…
