The recent Nancy Pelosi’s visit on 2nd August 2022 with a delegation of five-members of US Democratic Party to Taiwan construed as a blatant act of provocation has triggered tensions across the Taiwan Strait, thus endangering one China policy to which the US has promised to adhere. The narrow Taiwan Strait in South China sea constitutes a frequent source of military tension and is a powder keg and at any time can spark into an international conflagration. Thomas Friedman, author and columnist of New York Times, labelled Pelosi’s visit as “utterly reckless, dangerous and irresponsible”. And he added that Taiwan will not be more secure or prosperous because of a “purely symbolic” visit. He warned of the dire consequences. Already now the world is embroiled in the war in Ukraine. This visit has infuriated China which saw it as another US attempt to interfere with its internal affairs. One thing for sure, the People’s Republic of China is no more that of Opium wars, weak and submissive. Today it can sit on the same table with the West and will not accept to be humiliated or led by the nose. An escalation in the Taiwan Strait will be far more destructive than the Ukraine’s war.
Historically Taiwan is a province of China. In 1949 after his debacle during the Civil War (1945-1949) against the Communist Party of Mao Tse-toung, Tchiang Kai Chek fled to Taiwan with his followers of Kuomingtong, and took refuge occupying this territory illegally. “Taiwan n’a jamais été un pays indépendant, province de la Chine depuis le vieux temps, elle avait été occupée et colonisée par les Pays-Bas et le Japon” (Article in L’Express by Zhu Liying, Ambassador of the People’s Republic of China to Mauritius). This is crystal clear in the pages of history. It goes without saying that US, specialist in wars by proxy and self-boasted sheriff of the universe, is pulling the strings to set South China ablaze to destabilize China in its astronomical rise after having failed lamentably in its disinformation and manipulations in Tibet, Xinjiang, and Hong Kong. The reunification of Taiwan to China becomes a necessary reality after that of Hong Kong and Macao and thus it will help to reduce tensions. This is the revenge of history, like it or not. China has never aspired since the days of Zheng He (the most famous Chinese navigator) to the sordid ambition of colonizing any part of the universe contrary to western powers. President Xi Jinping has held over an olive branch to deescalate the rising tensions over South China Sea when he proposed that China would not militarize any of the reclaimed features in the South China Sea if America would not send any naval vessels to provoke the Chinese (Kishore Mahbubani : Has China Won ? ). But America still continues to provoke deliberately and has not learnt the humiliating and disgraceful lessons of the past in Vietnam and The Middle East. American naval vessels routinely carry out naval patrols twelve miles off Chinese shores with a view to spark a conflict. But Chinese naval vessels do not so far carry naval patrols twelve miles off the shores of California or New York. This is the difference between them. These American patrols are provocative in the way they are carried out, but China will not answer to such provocations true to their philosophies and America must not take it as a weakness.
Not only historically but culturally Chinese mainland and Taiwan are from the same stock. They are brothers and sisters. The big breakthrough happened in 2008 when Chinese mainland allowed flights for tourists from and to Taiwan. China will avoid taking military action on Taiwan unless it is provoked. A fratricidal war will not solve the problem but America will not rest at peace to see the two brothers unite together.
Philip LI CHING HUM
NOTE : Les points de vue exprimés dans cette rubrique ne reflètent pas nécessairement ceux de la rédaction et n’engagent que les auteurs eux-mêmes.
