As anticipation grows for the next upcoming presidential election in Taiwan on January 13th, the nervousness of the Chinese government, which has always viewed the island as an integral part of China, nothing more than a “rebel province”, is growing at the same time. Sooner or later it will come into contact with the Chinese ” “Motherland” can be reunited, with good manners or, if necessary, with military force. And the use of military force is an option that Beijing has never given up, on the contrary, it has increased recently. For this reason, China has always viewed with extreme annoyance the regular supply of weapons to the “rebels” of Taipei by the United States, the de facto independent island's main ally. The latest act of this confrontation occurred in these hours when China imposed sanctions on five US defense companies for arms sales to Taiwan.
The sanctions, we read in a statement from the Chinese Ministry of Defense, are the result of “grossly wrong actions” by the United States and were imposed in accordance with the Chinese law on sanctions against foreigners and as a result of the “sanctions of unilateral illegal actions” adopted by the USA against Chinese companies and individuals. The American companies affected are BAE Systems, Alliant Techsystems, AeroVironment, ViaSat and Data Link Solutions, against which Beijing has taken measures consisting of freezing the property of these companies in China and banning transactions and cooperation with organizations and individuals in China.
This is not the first time China has sanctioned US companies for selling weapons to Taiwan. Early last year, Beijing placed Lockheed Martin and Raytheon on the list of unreliable companies, banning them from carrying out import or export activities linked to China and making new investments in the country. Furthermore, it is unclear whether and to what extent the new sanctions could affect the affected companies, as American defense equipment manufacturers and military service providers do not generally conduct commercial activities in China and therefore such sanctions are often viewed as predominantly symbolic.
But the issue of American arms shipments to the rebel island adds to relations between Beijing and Washington remaining at odds and growing even closer after the United States approved a new military allocation of $300 million to help defend the island. The allocation was announced on December 15 last year, just a month after the long-awaited summit in San Francisco between US President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, who stressed on that very occasion that Taiwan remains “the most important and most sensitive issue in China-US relations” and had called on the United States to “stop arming Taiwan.” Washington, for its part, justified the new allocation by saying that helping Taiwan modernize its armed forces “would contribute to maintaining political stability, military balance and economic progress in the region.” But soon after the deployment was announced, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) intensified its training and military operations in the Taiwan Strait. The issue is extremely sensitive considering that Washington is actually legally obliged under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 to help the island protect itself by providing “weapons of a defensive nature” and is its main international supporter Weapons supplier. The law, passed three months after Washington transferred diplomatic recognition to Beijing in January 1979, was intended to show that the United States was not abandoning its old ally. But Washington's commitment to directly protect the island from military attack is seen by Beijing as explicit support for Taiwan's independence.
The rapid shift in the military balance in Beijing's favor has raised concerns about Taiwan's ability to defend itself against a cross-Strait attack. As a result, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have begun to increase and have accelerated sharply since Trump's presidency, not only to increase the island's defense capability but also to counter Beijing's emergence as China's geopolitical rival. Washington. During Trump's four years in office, the US approved arms sales to Taiwan 11 times. In comparison, three arms deals were completed during Barack Obama's two terms in office. The United States has supported Taiwan's military goals under current President Tsai to develop a strategy that includes asymmetric warfare and more limited, cutting-edge military technologies, applying military strategy concepts and more agile weapons platforms to exploit the vulnerability of a stronger adversary. The growing security cooperation between the US and Taiwan has unsettled Beijing, which sees it as a clear signal that the US rejects China's peaceful rise.
The Biden administration has continued arms sales to Taiwan while allowing U.S. officials to meet more freely with Taiwanese officials. Biden was the first US president to invite representatives from Taiwan to the presidential inauguration. The United States participates in military exercises with Taiwan and regularly sails its ships through the strait to demonstrate its military presence in the region, and has encouraged Taiwan to increase its defense spending. Additionally, Taiwan has received bipartisan support in Congress over the years, with lawmakers proposing and passing legislation to strengthen U.S.-Taiwan relations, strengthen the island's defenses, and promote its participation in international organizations. The latest legislative proposal, the Taiwan Policy Act of 2022, would designate Taiwan as a key ally outside the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
More than 19 million Taiwanese are expected to vote in the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections, the outcome of which will impact both cross-strait relations and US-China relations. Vice President and DPP candidate William Lai Ching-te is the favorite in the race. In almost all opinion polls he is ahead of Hou Yu-ih of the pro-China Kuomintang and Ko Wen-je of the smaller party popular in Taiwan. Beijing, for its part, urged Taiwanese voters to “stand on the right side of history… and advance the process of peaceful reunification of the motherland” after Xi said in his New Year's address that “reunification” with Taiwan was inevitable.
Washington's growing military support during Tsai's presidency has so far led to Beijing steadily increasing military and economic pressure on the island. The People's Liberation Army has conducted frequent exercises around the island in recent years, including large live-fire exercises, after then-U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island in August 2022 and Tsai welcomed Pelosi's successor Kevin McCarthy to the island in April USA hit. People's Liberation Army fighter jets now also regularly cross the median line of the Taiwan Strait, which once represented an unofficial barrier between the two sides.