In a recent development Taiwan’s military stated on Sunday it will discuss with the United States how to use funding for Taiwan included in a $95 billion legislative package mostly assisting Ukraine and Israel, as Chinese warplanes again got close to the island. Furthermore, Taiwan has faced increased military pressure from China, which views the island as its territory. Taiwan’s government rejects the claim while expressing thanks to the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the package on Saturday, saying it demonstrated the “rock solid” U.S. support for Taiwan. The ministry added it will coordinate the relevant budget uses with the United States through existing exchange mechanisms, and work hard to strengthen combat readiness.
The growing relationship between the United States and Taiwan is something China will pay close attention to. The relationship has implications for China’s relations with Tawnanad and their regional influence as a whole. In my opinion, because the United States is Taiwan’s most crucial international supporter and arms supplier China will proceed with caution. The United States and China’s relationship is rocky, but because they are arguably the top global powers in the world with similar military power, peace will proceed. Additionally, China and the US have big trade partners. Additionally, It’s interesting to think how different the situation would be if the United States had no diplomatic relations with Taiwan. I wonder if Taiwan would be under strict Chinese control or if China would continue to dominate other countries in the South China Sea.
The conflict between Taiwan and China is a pressing and consistent topic that has been present through the eternity of our class and will continue to for years to come. The conflict connects to so many different topics we’ve discussed in class. Ranging from the geopolitical goals of the US in their involvement in Taiwan to understanding how history impacts present-day tensions. Additionally, I believe this conflict will continue to escalate and each year of our international class, fresh news will follow. Hopefully, in the future, there will be no shocking invasions of Taiwan from China, as the Russian government did to Ukraine. One interesting thing we’ve learned from our class that relates to this topic is the terms, preventive or preemptive attack. I think it’s fascinating to examine China’s perception and their reasoning for an attack. Most Americans would perceive a Chinese invasion as a preemptive offensive attack, but in their perception, it is defensive with preventive measures. This could be said the same for the Russian government when invading Ukraine. Learning to look through different lenses when examining why a country acts in a certain manner is something I’m very appreciative that I was able to learn through our course. Furthermore, even if it is easy to examine a country’s actions in a secular way, it’s a fascinating challenge to step outside the box.