The Pot Is Boiling Between China And Taiwan. Can The Temperature Get Any Higher?

October 1st marks the Chinese National Day which commemorates the formal proclamation of the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. This is demonstrated through a week of festivities and celebrations marking the history-making moment. However, a woe of concern rose in the neighboring island, Taiwan. Approximately 150 Chinese warplanes have passed across the Taiwanese ADIZ (Air Defense Identification Zone) since Friday, October 1st, with a record of 56 fighter jets and nuclear-capable bombers on Monday alone. The military flights were a part of the celebrations with it being the biggest aerial show of force. In Taiwan, though, tensions were high.

Considered a provincial island that seems to inevitably become a part of China in the not-so-distant future, this show of force in the airspace past the Chinese borders is not the first of its kind. The pace has been growing over the past months with record numbers being hit all across last weekend through Monday. The Taiwanese have been battling the Chinese consideration of the island for years stating that “Taiwan considers itself a sovereign state”.

After its separation from the Chinese jurisdiction of power in 1949, Taiwan has struggled to be a fully self-ruled democracy. With the constant threat of invasion by China, the island has often turned to the USA for support. The Chinese foreign spokeswoman had said that “China will take all necessary measures to resolutely crush all attempts at ‘Taiwan Independence”.

The US State spokesman Ned Price had said that the US was “very concerned” by the recent developments by Beijing. He added that “the activity is establishing, it risks miscalculation and it undermines regional peace and security”. He reassured that the USA’s support to the island is “rock-solid”. The US president Joe Biden said that President Xi, in a conversation held on Tuesday, had agreed to “abide by the agreement”. The agreement hints at past US-China understandings of Taiwan.

Taiwanese Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng has stated that relations across the Taiwan Strait are the most strained, and that it is the most difficult circumstance he has faced in his 40-year military career. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) had accused Beijing of “seriously damaging the status quo of peace and stability in the Taiwan strait”.

As threats of possible invasion loom around the island, China has viewed the western support of Taiwan as hostile and has given multiple warnings to the US and Britain.