Washington is banking on allies in Asia to stop Beijing from invading Taiwan. The People’s Republic is arming itself and wants to urge the US to comply with a special requirement.
Vienna/Los Angeles. “Even the smallest part of China must not be left behind,” the People’s Liberation Army proclaimed on social media – hours before sending a naval force around the aircraft carrier Shandong to Taiwan’s southeastern coast. This is Beijing’s response to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen meeting US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy in Los Angeles. The mood is tense: After former President Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August, China has held military exercises on a scale not seen in decades.
McCarthy refrained from traveling to Taipei out of consideration for Beijing and received Tsai on US soil to signal support for the island republic. But relations with the US are at an all-time low and the People’s Republic is flexing its muscles. From the Chinese point of view, the message is clear: Taiwan is a Chinese territory.
Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy receives Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in Los Angeles. APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY I
McCarthy is walking a tightrope when welcoming Tsai. It is much more than the difficult relationship between Beijing, Washington and Taipei: security in the Pacific region. For US allies in the region, the Taiwan issue is more relevant than ever, given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Chinese support for Moscow.