Global Times on PRC-US relations in 2024
On 21 December of this year, the Chinese official publication Global Times, whose target audience is mainly abroad, published a remarkable article with the positions of representatives of Chinese academic science on the current state and prospects for the development of U.S.-China relations in the coming year. The extreme urgency of the issues raised in this publication is explained by the obvious fact that we are talking about the relations between the two main participants of the current stage of the “Big World Game”, which significantly determine the nature of the transformation…
Microchips and Macroeffects
The island-nation of Taiwan seems to feature much more in strategic considerations in the great game between the two superpowers of our time than its size alone would suggest. Home to less than 25 million people and a third the size of KPK in Pakistan, the country is one of the most important in the world; almost exclusively due to its position as the world’s leading manufacturer of computer chips. The history of American support for Taiwan against China’s claims to it as part of its own territory comes as a legacy of the Cold War. Upon the rise to power in China…
Taiwan: foreign policy aspects of the landscape before the electoral battle
On 27 November this year, the nomination period expired and the registration process for candidates for the positions of president and vice president, as well as for the 113-seat Taiwanese parliament, took place. This finalised the pool of politicians drawn from the island’s major political parties, all of whom have some chance of fulfilling their ambitions in the upcoming quadrennial general election on 13 January 2024. Of particular interest, of course, are the candidates for the presidency. They were incumbent Vice President…
Washington and Tokyo are Preparing for a Conflict Over Taiwan
Japan sees itself as “Poland for Ukraine” in the event of escalation, and the United States is actively ramping up its production of the latest weapons. A little more than a month is left until the presidential elections in Taiwan, scheduled for January 13, 2024. In the run-up to elections, the candidate from Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is currently leading in the polls, leaving his contenders from the opposition Kuomintang and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) behind. The lack of agreement between…
US Seeks Plausible Deniability as it Lights Middle East on Fire
A surprising change of tone came from the Pentagon in early December. After weeks of devastating Israeli military operations inside Gaza, the US Secretary of Defense implored Israel to demonstrate restraint and concern for the civilian population. The Hill in its early December 2023 article, “Israel risks ‘strategic defeat’ if civilians aren’t protected, Pentagon chief says,” would report: Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Israel risks a “strategic defeat” if it does not work to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza amid its war on militant group Hamas in the region…
Washington’s Obsession with Containing China Continues
While a mid-November meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden in San Francisco was interpreted by some as a thawing in relations between China and the US, Washington continues onward, expanding its policy of encircling and containing the rise of China through economic, diplomatic, and military means. The most likely explanation for US overtures toward China, precipitating the recent meeting, is Washington’s familiar game of seeking to appear to be pursuing diplomacy all while actually undermining it…
The US and Australia accuse China of ramping up the pressure in the Asia-Pacific region
US President Joe Biden has criticized Beijing over the Taiwan issue shortly before a visit to Washington by the Chinese foreign minister. The directness of the accusations which the US leader hurls at China, while continuing to express confidence in a restoration of constructive dialog with Beijing, never ceases to amaze. Another pearl among Joe Biden’s recent high-profile statements can be found in the joint written statement issued on October 26, following the bilateral talks between himself and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese concluded the previous day in the US capital…
The Grim Prospects of US Proxies: Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan
As Russia’s special military operation (SMO) approaches two years of intense fighting, having parried Ukraine’s “spring counteroffensive” and with the initiative shifting to Russian forces, Western capitals are now admitting they are reaching the limits to remaining support for Kiev. During the Ukrainian offensive alone, the Western media has admitted Ukrainian forces have suffered catastrophic losses in both manpower and material. The Ukrainian economy has all but been replaced by heavy subsidies from the United States, Europe…
On the “transit” of the vice president of Taiwan through the US to Paraguay
A remarkable event took place in mid-August in relation to the rising tensions in the public space, created by official bodies and their representatives in the two major global powers, the United States and China. Naturally, propaganda machines from both nations actively contribute to this process, detrimental for the entire world. These machines started using the innocuous word “transit” as their main “scary word.” And all this despite some progress in the last two to three months that has led China’s experts to speculate…
Washington's deadly gifts - gratuitous arms shipments to Taiwan
At the end of July this year, US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of another package of military assistance to Taiwan in the amount of up to $345 million. Unlike previous deliveries, this tranche will become special – free of charge, through a special mechanism of the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). Previously, the PDA format, which allows weapons to be shipped directly from the Pentagon’s warehouses without unnecessary approval from Congress and bureaucratic procedures, was used only for military…
US Arms Package to Taiwan Heralds “Ukraine Part 2”
The United States has announced a new weapons package for Taiwan worth up to 345 million USD. Reuters, in an article covering the package, would suggest it was aimed at providing Taiwan with “security assistance.” In reality, the transfer of weapons from the US to Taiwan is a violation of Chinese sovereignty under international law which recognizes Taiwan as an island province of China…
The Inevitable Convergence of Taiwan with the Mainland
Despite US efforts, reciprocity between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will not decrease. On June 16, the traditional 15th Strait Forum opened in the Chinese city of Xiamen, opposite Taiwan. The event has no particular focus and is geared more toward encouraging contact and demonstrating that Chinese people are not so different on either side of the sea. It is worth noting that despite new rounds of confrontation between Beijing and Taipei continuing to unfold, about 5,000 Taiwanese showed up at the forum. About a thousand will come directly from the island, including representatives of the Kuomintang and other coalition parties. Such occurrences…