Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu described China as a bully, following the deterioration of relations between China and Taiwan since the current President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen, assumed the presidency of Taiwan in 2016, who belongs to the Democratic Progressive Party that leans towards independence. The current President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen, belongs to the Democratic Progressive Party, which is hostile to the ruling Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China, which tends towards final formal independence from China. Tsai Ing-wen won a second term in 2020.
So Beijing intensified military and diplomatic pressure, carried out air and sea exercises around the island, and persuaded some of the provinces that support Taiwan to stop doing so. The confirmation of the Eastern Operations Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army that the Eastern Operations theater conducted patrols that focused on coordinating and testing the combat capabilities of its forces in joint operations came in a serious warning to the separatist Taiwan Independence Forces. On the economic side, China has stepped up pressure on international companies, forcing them to list Taiwan as part of China on their websites, and threatening to ban them from doing business in China if they do not comply.
Taiwan currently enjoys self-rule, although Beijing considers it a province rebellious against the authority of the Greater People’s Republic of China and should not enjoy any kind of independence. Tensions between Taiwan and China have increased after the United States, which supports Taiwan, imposed sanctions on the Chinese army recently. In addition to the trade war between the two countries and Taiwan and China’s increasing strengthening of their military status in the South China Sea. China was not content with verbal warnings about Taiwan’s transgressions, as it began flying several Chinese warplanes that made tactical moves near the dividing line at the Taiwan Strait, and those Chinese warships crossed the highly sensitive center line in the Taiwan Strait, as an unusual step on the part of China during the past years.
The Chinese army began exercises around Taiwan, which it described as a serious warning to separatist forces, while Taiwan criticized what it described as China’s military mentality and said it would deploy appropriate forces to respond. The new Chinese maneuvers come in the wake of the visit of William Lai, Vice President of Taiwan, to the United States, which is officially a stopover on his way to Paraguay to attend the inauguration ceremony of its president, a visit that China condemned and vowed to respond to Lai, the front-runner in the January 2024 presidential election, has returned from the United States of America, where he gave speeches in Washington that were supposed to be his official stopover with the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee criticized potential presidential candidate William Lai’s visit to the United States, stressing that “Lai’s actions have proven that he is an absolute trouble-maker. He will push Taiwan to the brink of serious war and bring deep troubles to the Taiwan compatriots”.
The United States of America helps Taiwan politically, economically, and militarily, as an American attempt to undermine Chinese influence on the Taiwanese island, which it considers a competitor to it for global influence, and the geographical location of Taiwan Island is of great importance to Washington, in the event that China succeeds in annexing Taiwan by force, it will be more free In displaying its military strength in the western Pacific region, which Washington sees as a threat to its military bases in distant places such as the bases of “Guam in South Korea, Hawaii and Okinawa in Japan”, but China insists that its intentions are peaceful. Also, China’s recovery of full sovereignty over the Taiwanese island will threaten the US military presence in the South China Sea.
