Taipei – Military activity from China over Taiwan Strait was reported shortly after the visit of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to Beijing, China. 

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken began his visit in China from April 24. Meetings were held with Chinese President Xi JingPing and China Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The initial goal was to reassure that both countries are willing to discuss their current disputes. However, tensions between China and America rose instead due to opposing views regarding trade wars, the Russian-Ukraine war, and the current status of Taiwan. 

With the historical interactions and background of both sides, China has always viewed Taiwan as an integral part of China. Although Taiwan claims itself as a sovereign country with its own government and perspectives apart from China, pressures from China oppresses Taiwan and limits Taiwan’s opportunities to join international events and organizations. China has also long been concerned about America’s military and economic support to Taiwan. In fact, a bill armed with $ 8 million dollars of foreign support from America to Taiwan and indo-pacific regions was signed by Joe Biden shortly before Blinken’s visit to China. Over recent years, China has been warning America to stop its interference in the relationship between China and Taiwan. During the meeting, China foreign minister Wang Yi firmly informed Blinken that the Taiwan issue is the “first red line” that America should not cross. 

In an interview by ABC news with national security expert Dmitri Alperovitch, interviewers asked Alperovitch about his opinions towards the current relationship situation between China and Taiwan. When asked about the possibility of China invading Taiwan over the following years, Alperovitch responded, “I believe in the next 4 to 8 years, China will go after Taiwan. And the reason why that timeline is that Xi is now in his 70s… He wants to do this on his watch, just like Putin wanted to do it on his watch in Ukraine.” Despite this, considering multiple factors that can influence Xi’s decisions, China’s actions towards Taiwan are unpredictable. 

Apart from military-regarding issues, Blinken also suggested inviting Taiwan to participate in the yearly WHA as an observer. The WHA, which stands for World Health Assembly, is a crucial annual assembly held by the WHO that leads the world’s health by discussing global health plans and determining the policies of the organization. Taiwan was able to attend WHA from 2009 to 2016 as an observer. However, ever since Tsai- IngWen of Democratic Progressive Party became president of Taiwan, China has been blocking Taiwan out of the WHA meetings. Shortly after the April 24 meeting, Blinken announced a press statement on May 1, stating that participation of Taiwan in the annual meeting is a “critically important step toward affirming the WHO’s goal of world health.” In response, China claimed the day after that Blinken’s statement violates the one-China policy and the three China-US Joint Communiques, and that the country strongly opposes the statement.

In the face of arguments between Taiwan and China, Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-Te stands firmly against the “one China” request that BeiJing proposed, saying that the power to make choices belongs to and only to the Taiwanese people. 

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Works CIted

“Blinken Begins Key China Visit as Tensions Rise over New US Foreign Aid Bill.” AP News, 24 Apr. 2024, apnews.com/article/us-china-taiwan-ukraine-tiktok-blinken-d5bb4be65f98f4c5b830b2b1d00dcb90.

“Blinken’s China Visit: Has Rapprochement Run Its Course?” Thediplomat.com, thediplomat.com/2024/04/blinkens-china-visit-has-rapprochement-run-its-course/. Accessed 13 May 2024.

News, A. B. C. “The US Is in a Cold War with China over Taiwan, Expert Says.” ABC News, abcnews.go.com/International/us-cold-war-china-taiwan-expert/story?id=109748045.

Cover Picture Cited:

Archive, GPA Photo. “Secretary of State Antony Blinken.” Flickr, 3 Mar. 2021, http://www.flickr.com/photos/iip-photo-archive/51024344951. Accessed 15 May 2024.