Taiwan Claims China Is Acting Out An Assault On Its Main Island

In response to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, Beijing intensified its retribution on Saturday and announced a suspension of cooperation with the US on critical areas. Taiwan accused China of simulating an attack on its main island.

Following Pelosi’s visit to China’s neighbour, which it claims as its territory, relations between the two nations have taken a tumble, prompting calls from the UN for an urgent de-escalation of hostilities.

The environment was the latest casualty of the geopolitical squabble on Friday when Beijing announced it would end its participation in a number of negotiations and accords with Washington, particularly those relating to climate change and defence cooperation.

The two biggest polluters in the world had agreed to cooperate and meet frequently to address the issue and speed up climate action this decade, but that agreement is now in doubt.

In preparation for a possible blockade and eventual invasion of the island, Beijing continued some of its largest-ever military exercises outside Taiwan on Saturday, according to analysts.

Taipei claimed to have seen “several” Chinese ships and aircraft operating in the Taiwan Strait, believing they were acting out an assault on the main island of the self-governing democracy.

According to a statement from its defence ministry, “several batches of Communist planes and ships performing actions across the Taiwan Strait, some of which breached the median line,” referring to a demarcation line that runs down the Taiwan Strait but that Beijing does not recognise.

Beijing’s military tonight released a video of an air force pilot shooting the island’s shoreline and mountains from his cockpit in an effort to highlight exactly how close China’s forces have been coming to Taiwan’s coasts.

If true, it would be a significant escalation to have Chinese missiles fly straight over Taiwan during the exercises, according to CCTV, the public broadcaster of China.

However, Taipei has resisted and vowed not to be intimidated by its “evil neighbour.”

‘Punishing the whole world’

The size and ferocity of China’s drills have outraged the US and other democracies, and the White House on Friday summoned Beijing’s ambassador to Washington to denounce Beijing’s conduct.

Beijing’s decision to abandon the laboriously achieved climate change collaboration has now raised more widespread concerns about the planet’s destiny.

According to Alden Meyer, a senior associate at the climate-focused research tank E3G, “it’s definitely concerning and raises worries.”

If the world’s top-ranked economies and top-ranked emitters don’t act, it will be “difficult to address the climate emergency,” he claimed.

And it’s always better if they work together to accomplish it.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, told reporters in Washington that the choice was “fundamentally reckless.”

As Kirby noted, “the climate catastrophe doesn’t recognise territorial boundaries and borders, so they’re really punishing the entire planet.” “The largest emitter in the world is currently refusing to participate in crucial initiatives needed to tackle the climate problem.”

The world needs the two nations to continue cooperating, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cautioned.

According to the secretary-spokesman general’s Stephane Dujarric, effective communication and cooperation between the two nations are necessary to address the world’s most critical issues.

‘The new normal’

The new deterioration in relations between the two giants, however, could be profound and protracted, experts told AFP, as tensions over Taiwan have reached their greatest point in almost 30 years and there is a higher possibility of military war.

The relationship is currently in a very terrible condition, according to German Marshall Fund specialist Bonnie Glaser, who specialises in China.

She described as “especially worrying” the decision to halt Friday’s bilateral military and marine discussions while China keeps up its military drills.

She said, “We don’t know what else they’ll do.” “We simply don’t know if this is only a passing thing.”

In a panel discussion organised by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, John Culver, a former CIA Asia analyst, asserted that Beijing’s principal goal in conducting its military drills was to alter the current situation.