China Tells the United States to Stop Arming Taiwan
Jose Nino
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On December 30, 2022, the authorities in China have demanded that the United States stop holding discussions with Taiwanese military officials and halt arm sales to the island nation.
“China will act firmly to defend its own sovereignty and security interests,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said during a press briefing on December 30, when asked about the US State Department’s recent move to approve arms sales to Taiwan.
He stressed that China has always been opposed to US arms sales to Taiwan.
“China is calling on the United States to stop selling arms to Taiwan and military contacts between Washington and Taipei,” Wenbin stated.
According to a Press TV report, the recently passed $1.7 trillion omnibus bill featured $2 billion allocated towards the financing of arms sales for Taiwan for the current fiscal year.
Wang said China calls on the US to comply with the “one-China” principle and the three Sino-American joint communiques. In essence, Wang wants US authorities to stop supporting Taiwan independence efforts.
Nearly all countries abide by the “One China” policy, which recognizes mainland’s dominion over Taiwan. Even the US nominally recognizes the “One China” policy, and has no formal diplomatic relations with the island. However, its recent actions — constantly supplying military aid — demonstrates a gradual move towards recognizing Taiwanese independence.
The era of “Chimerica”, based on profound economic integration between the US and China, is over. As the US pivots to Asia i.e contains China, there will be heightened security crises between the two nuclears.
Indeed, the US needs to recalibrate its immigration and trade policies with China. Any serious nationalist government would fully decouple trade with China and halt Chinese immigration — along with other nationalities as part of an immigration moratorium policy.
However, actions that could potentially lead to a direct conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations would lead to a geopolitical disaster of epic proportions. Rational minds should recognize that China has legitimate interests in East Asia while also working to make sure that China does not exploit the US on trade and immigration policy.
The neocon/neoliberal interventionist mindset must be discarded in this case.
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