PLA determined to oppose Biden’s cross-Straits meddling
While the US and the island of Taiwan attempt to expand the “grey zone” of their “diplomatic ties” through an unofficial visit by Joe Biden’s “close friends,” including two former deputy secretaries of state, the People’s Liberation Army ( PLA) responded Thursday with a live- fire exercise on the southwest waters of the Taiwan Straits.
As the secessionist Democratic Progressive Party ( DPP) gloats about the warming “relations” with the Biden administration from the visit, some analysts in their opinion pieces described cross- Straits military activities with terms like “the Sarajevo of Asia,” in a sense comparing the current tense situation to the incident which sparked World War I.
From Thursday to Tuesday, live- fire exercises are scheduled in a maritime area around the Nanpeng Islands in the South China Sea, the Maritime Safety Administration of South China’s Guangdong Province announced in a navigation restriction notice on Wednesday. According to the coordinates released with the notice, the exercise zone is a square- shaped sea area covering several islands off Guangdong’s coastal city of Shantou.
The media in the island of Taiwan described the meeting between a US delegation and Tsai Ing- wen, leader of DPP on the island, on Thursday morning as rock- solid support and expressed hopes to have deeper cooperation on a supply chain, technology, trade and safeguarding stability and peace in the Indo- Pacific region with the US and others who share the same values.
Also on Thursday, US climate envoy John Kerry meets his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua in Shanghai, and experts described the move as the US’ double- dealing tricks to gain maximum interests for the US.
Diao Daming, an associate professor at the Renmin University of China in Beijing, said that in response to the pressure from US hawks who oppose cooperation with China, Biden sent delegations to both Shanghai and Taipei at almost the same time, appeasing the island of Taiwan and giving Chinese mainland leverage.
As for the regional security and stability call from Tsai, some analysts viewed it as a signal to Japan, whose prime minister, Yoshihide Suga, will meet Joe Biden on Friday, with Taiwan anticipated to be a major agenda, according to an AP report.
After the “unofficial visit,” Biden’s “close friends” are expected to send a message to him before the US president’s talking with Suga, Diao said.
Chiu Yi, a former “lawmaker” in Taiwan and a Taiwan- based pro- reunification scholar, told the Global Times on Thursday that while the US and its allies have tried to expand the diplomatic “gray zone” with Taiwan, the PLA has improved its combat capabilities by conducting responsive combat drills and encircled the island.