By: James Kamara-Manneh
Nancy Pelosi, who is the second in the line of succession to the US presidency, has just ended her short visit to Taiwan, which has drawn worldwide attention. Such a visit is dangerous and provocative and has sent a seriously wrong signal to the separatist elements seeking “Taiwan independence” and has undermined peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.
History has proven that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of it. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the only legitimate government of China, Taiwan is bound by an understanding known as the 1992 Consensus, which was reached between representatives of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits from the Mainland and Straits Exchange Foundation from Taiwan.
There are several documents signed between China and US regarding the question of Taiwan, such as three US-China communiqués reached in 1972, 1978, and 1982.
In the said documents, it was agreed that the US has acknowledged the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China and that the PRC is the sole legal government of China.
In his July 28 phone call with President Xi Jinping, President Joe Biden reiterated that the one-China policy of the US has not changed and will not change and that the US does not support “Taiwan independence.”
However, in recent years, the US has been backtracking, and even blurring and hollowing out the one-China principle. It has inserted into its characterization of the one-China policy the so-called “Taiwan Relations Act” and the “Six assurances”. The US has also gone against its commitment of maintaining non-official ties with the Taiwan region. It has upgraded its level of contact with Taiwan and has steadily increased arms sales to Taiwan. In a salami-slicing manner, the US is trying to void its commitment to the one-China principle and distort the Taiwan question by falsely portraying it as an issue of “democracy” versus “authoritarianism”, rather than what it is, an internal affair of China.
Despite repeated opposition and stern warning from China, Pelosi finally made the trip to Taiwan. Now the world is waiting to see the response from China.
According to the Chinese representative to UN, Zhang Jun,”China is fully prepared to respond. If the US insists on visiting, China will take firm measures to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the US has to bear all the serious consequences arising thereof.”.
The latest development shows that China has already begun its series of counter-back measures.
According to some Chinese netizens, the recent exercise by the Chinese military would practically surround the island, meaning that the Chinese military may have the ability to cut off Taiwan’s access to the outside world. In 1996, China held a series of live-fire drills around Taiwan, but most of the exercises were done in the Taiwan Straits and the island’s northern and southern waters. Now, the Chinese military plans to conduct military drills all around Taiwan, most notably in the eastern waters of the island.
China has also announced other measures, such as suspending some fish and fruit imports from Taiwan, banning natural sand exports to Taiwan, sanctioning some extreme Taiwan independence separatists, etc.
It is expected that more action will be taken in the following days. It is believed China will use that provocative visit by Nancy Pelosi to irreversibly change the Taiwan Straits situation and speed up the reunification process, which is actually much more important than this visit itself.
