The United States has approved a $330 million military sale to Taiwan, which in turn has angered China. China has demanded that the US cancel the sale, and warned of damage to bilateral relations if it does not comply. As we saw in Cambodia, this is China’s way of telling the US to stay out of the affairs of Indochina. The United States has over time repeatedly stepped on the sovereignty and security interests of China. After Taiwan split from China, China has consistently amped up it’s diplomatic and military pressure on the Island. With this arms sale, Taiwan will be able to strengthen it’s self defense and maintain the much needed peace in the Taiwan Strait. My understanding is that the issue between Taiwan and China is that China believes that Taiwan is still a part of them and that Taiwan ought to rejoin because they have no right to independence. In my opinion, China is doing fairly well without Taiwan, but Taiwan is being used as a pawn in the United States’s game against China. Taiwan’s closest and only ally is the US and throughout our history has provided Taiwan with defensive weapons. In response to China’s “unfair practices”, the US has entered a trade war to in a way, teach China a lesson. China has responded with it’s own tariffs and the US has seeked to help Taiwan. The US has chosen to include Taiwan in it’s issues with China and as I see it, has no real interest in Taiwan besides the fact that it would bring up much turmoil in China to see Taiwan succeeding at the hands of the US. The US ought to work with the Indochina region rather than exacerbate their problems, specifically when it comes to North Korea. China has long stood at the side of the DPRK but denuclearizing the Korean peninsula is obviously not something that can be done easily. Because of this, the US must put aside it’s differences with China and bow out of its affairs with Taiwan and focus on the World’s dealings with North Korea.
