Just weeks after Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping threatened to resolve the “Taiwan issue” with force, eleven of China’s naval and aircraft vessels were detected in and around the Taiwan strait Saturday, prompting Taipei to scramble defenses.
Beijing’s latest action follows a pattern that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken described as “increasingly adversarial,” telling former National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice that China’s more aggressive actions abroad were “a profound concern” to the U.S. and its allies.
Taiwan scrambles jets, missile systems after detecting 11 Chinese aircraft, vessels near island https://t.co/7dHUTiHRdn
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 5, 2022
During the opening session of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing, Xi Jinping doubled down on his goal to reunify Taiwan with China. Although experts believe Xi would prefer to achieve that reunification through peaceful means, according to the Japan Times, he did warn that China would “never renounce the use of force” in seeking a resolution to the “Taiwan question.”
“We must be fully prepared to respond to external interference and major incidents relating to Taiwan independence through non-peaceful means and other necessary measures, always maintain a high state of readiness, and be ready for war at all times,” Major General Liu Yantong, head of the Central Military Commission’s research bureau, wrote in a report issued to the CCP congress according to Fox News. (RELATED: ROGERS: Biden Is Isolating America On The Global Stage. We Need Serious Foreign Policy, Now)
Though the U.S. and the United Nations do not officially recognize Taiwan’s independence as a separate, sovereign nation, top G7 diplomats warned that against any unilateral attempts to change the status quo, calling on China to “abstain from threats, coercion, intimidation, or the use of force,” Fox News reported.