Tensions between the US and China are at their worst level in decades, and nowhere is this centered more than in the Taiwan Strait, where US arms sales are turning up Chinese rhetoric opposed to the idea of Taiwanese independence.
This is always a problem. If Taiwan were to try to assert independence, it would mean war. At the same time, China and Taiwan have not negotiated anything to resolve their respective status and coexistence, leaving things open.
This dangerously opens up the risk of war, and with the US having backed Taiwan so heavily, the instigating incident could easily be something Taiwan has no control over, even if they would bare the consequences.
At the same time, the US has been throwing around rhetoric about uniting the world against China, so this may just be China doing the same thing, and rhetoric going back and forth is meant by both sides to prove how serious they are, as opposed to being an actual policy.
As US Tensions Rise, China’s Rhetoric on Taiwan Grows More Harsh
Tensions are worst in decades
Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.
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