Article Link: https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231013_02/
The Untied States of america has decided to fly patrol planes through the Taiwan Strait. The United States justifies this act claiming that they are protecting the navigational rights of every single nation, as demanded by international law. China is mad calling it a publicity stunt as the american navy was “publicly hyping the incident”. China then includes a cryptic almost threat like statement saying that they have their own planes that are stationed on alert to find american planes and “deal with them in accordance with laws and regulations”. China states this is to protect the sovereignty of the nation as well as regional peace.
This holds significance due to the nature in which China and the United states find themselves interacting. The Untied States is the current leading super power, however China is not all that far behind. This makes China a threat to the global monopoly the Unites States has built over the last few years. The united states seeks to contain China which could be a leading factor in keeping Taiwan out of reach. The planes more likely serve the purpose of subtly reminding China that Taiwan is under an unofficial protection of sorts. China has the right to be upset as America is interfering with what it considers an internal affair.
In international relations class, we have discussed sovereignty of a nation. The sovereignty of a nation is very important, breaking the sovereignty of a nation could be seen as an act of aggression. This makes what the united states is doing very dangerous, as China could see it more and more as aggression. We have also discussed how there are always multiple viewpoints for each issue. In this case China views Taiwan as a part of China still, this leads to them believing it is an internal affair. The united states sees this as and external affair because it is people wanting freedom from China.