Two US warships sailed through the Taiwan Strait on Sunday in the first such US operation since House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) visited Taipei at the beginning of August.
The US Navy’s Seventh Fleet said the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Antietam and USS Chancellorsville made the passage through the Strait. China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) slammed the provocation and said it tracked the US warships as they made the transit.
“The People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theatre Command warned the US vessels and monitored their entire passage. We are fully aware of their activities. Troops of the theatre command remain on high alert and are ready to thwart any provocation,” said PLA spokesman Col. Shi Yi.
In recent years, US military activity has increased in the region. The US regularly sends warships through the Taiwan Strait at about a monthly rate but typically sends a single destroyer to make the transit. The last time the US sent two warships through the waterway was in December 2020, when the guided-missile destroyers USS John McCain and USS Curtis Wilbur made the passage.
Pelosi was the first House speaker to visit Taiwan since 1997, and her controversial trip sparked the largest-ever Chinese military exercises around Taiwan. During the drills, the PLA took the unprecedented steps of simulating a blockade around Taiwan and firing missiles over the island.
China has kept up the military pressure around Taiwan since Pelosi’s visit, and US delegations to the island have continued throughout August. The latest US official to visit Taiwan was Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), who said she made the trip to “send a message to Beijing” and slammed China as part of a new “Axis of Evil.”
From Beijing’s perspective, the frequent congressional delegations are a sign that the US is moving away from the one-China policy. Chinese officials have warned that US support for what they call “independence forces” in Taiwan could lead to war.
Easy targets for China.
Maybe, the people sitting around in suits are bored and want to light some fires and kick some tires?….
When all else fails they take you to war says Gerald Celente. With the U.S. quickly becoming a failing empire, it looks as if they are doing their part to start a global conflict.
Well said and I do not doubt it for a second.
Clearly these moves are intended to provoke… Is the US actually looking to stir things up with China? And to what Purpose? If the situation was reversed and China pulled this kind of maneuvering with the US, we’d be mad as hell… I am liking Bye-Done less and less with each passing day… Does anyone really care to go to war with China, a nuclear country?…
As Jesus supposedly said “They know.not what.they.do”.Sleepy,Senile Joe Biden.would not
be the first leader to start a war when.the.economy.crashes.However.to.provoke.two Nuclear.powers is insane and asinine.
I agree…
But that`s the problem they know exactly what they are doing , American Politicians do nothing that dosen`t benefit America .
Well, ‘benefiting’ who, in America?… The usual suspect: the MIC?… It doesn’t do a damn thing for you or me.
I am convinced that Biden is a MIC wind up doll, programmed with what they want him to say. Very effective.
VLP, THAT would explain a great deal!
What you have to remember is the US isn`t concerned about winning or loseing a war it`s how long they can keep the war going , Vietnam 30 years , Afghanistan 20 years now Ukraine , ect ect ect , can you imagine the wealth generated by war for the US economy not to mention the M.I.C in the past 120 years WW1 / WW2 included , it would be trully mind boggling .
Nicely summed up Jesse James. It distresses me that we have not been able to evolve beyond this mentality…
“Is the US actually looking to stir things up with China?”
Answer: Unequivocally yes.
” And to what Purpose?”
Answer: Simple. The leaders of the US and China both understand that China is ascending and the US is declining. If China can maintain peace, they will become stronger as the US becomes weaker. From the MIC standpoint, if confrontation with China is inevitable, the sooner the better before the US gets weaker.
Chinese foreign policy is a lot like the US foreign policy in the 19th century. An ascendant power benefits from keeping the peace, confident that free competition will make it stronger. A declining power pushes for confrontation and war before it gets weaker.
The USA and Russia are both declining imperialist powers with over 90% of the world’s nukes. They are both very dangerous. In the long run the US with NATO is more dangerous. The Western alliance is the greatest impediment to human progress in our time.
But in the short run, Russia is more desperate, having lost the Warsaw Pact and with the breakup of the Soviet Union, the Russian Federation lost the empire of the Czars and the commissars. Following the breakup of the Soviet Union. Russia rightfully sees the expansion of NATO as an existential threat to Russia’s continued status as a great power and Putin’s drive to restore the empire of his predecessors. But Russia needs China and China wants peaceful competition. So maybe China, Russia and the African Union can forge a new world order with Iran, the Cubans and the Bolivarians. One can only hope.
Hi SW:
I think your assessment is a fair one and pretty much spot on.
The world is in a kind of transition, which is a bit scary.
Donna, a transition away from the United Snakes is a positive thing.
Just imagine. China is using its resources to uplift its people rather than squandering them on immoral global warfare.