Military ties between Taiwan and the United States are reportedly stronger than ever as President Donald Trump continues to taunt Beijing with his antics. However, China is not taking these developments sitting down, as evidenced by President Xi Jinping's recent order to his military commanders to start preparing for a war.
According to the South China Morning Post, defense ties between Taipei and Washington has become even closer in the recent months. President Trump has been approving arm deals with Taiwan so much faster compared to former presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush. The self-ruled island is also reportedly making public US military movements near the Taiwan Strait.
All seem to be part of President Trump's grand plan. When he took office in 2016, he and the Congress already started to shift away from the policy of not enraging and just appeasing Beijing in relation to Taipei. With him an officer, however, there appears to be a new policy to challenge China by helping Taiwan build up its defense deliberately.
It is not only the United States that should strive to moderate their actions. Analysts claimed that Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen should also weigh the significance and effects of being militarily close to the United States, given its already hypersensitive relationship with China.
However, just recently, the US-Taiwan Business Council based in Chicago is reportedly happy with the way things are between the United States and Taiwan and felt encouraged about the approval of a US$330 million deal to provide spare parts and other logistics for various types of Taiwan's military aircraft. The support was a far cry from how President Obama and other previous presidents handle arm sale requests of Taiwan, which often was decided by Beijing's potential reaction to the proposed deal.
President Xi Jinping is not one to take any threats to its interest on Taiwan lightly. In a speech he made and presented by China Central Television, he could be heard telling officers of the Southern Theater Command to take into account all complex situations and prepare emergency plans as necessary.
According to Xinhua, President Xi also already highlighted the value of preparing for war and combat. Xinhua added that the Chinese president strongly "stressed the need to focus on combat research and commanding, to advance work in all areas and accelerate developing strong and efficient joint-operation commanding institutions for theatre commands to comprehensively boost the military's battle-winning ability."
His speech follows the one given by State Councillor GEneral and Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, who stated China's hard stance against outsiders threatening its sovereignty. As reported by South China Morning Post as well, Wei Fenghe said that the country has no plans of giving up even one single piece of its territory - pertaining to Taiwan and the South China Sea. any threat of such would force it to use military force to secure its interests.
