The US recently has escalated hype about a military conflict scenario in the Taiwan Straits, hinting at a commitment to “defend the island,” but such moves are no more than fooling the island to follow the US’ anti-China strategy and using Taiwan as a pawn, analysts said on Wednesday.
No matter how “Taiwan independence” forces attempt to trumpet “US’ support,” more and more people on the island have recognized the so-called protection is not reliable or trustworthy at all, according to analysts.
The US House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday advanced a raft of China-related sanctions bills, a sign of increasing hawkishness in the Republican-controlled chamber amid strained relations between Washington and Beijing, Bloomberg reported.
Taiwan media hailed those “supporting Taiwan” bills as economic deterrents to thwart China from military operations and ensure Taiwan island’s international membership, including in the IMF.
The US is reportedly planning to increase its military presence on the island. Such an arrangement is intended to enhance coordination between the militaries of the US and the island in case of a war, Voice of America reported on Wednesday.
The news came after the island’s regional leader Tsai Ing-wen announced plans to enhance military exchanges after meeting with US lawmakers.
A recent small-scale poll by Rasmussen Reports found less than half of Americans would support US ground troops to be involved in a cross-Straits conflict. Economic sanctions were agreed to by more among the 900 respondents.
Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the poll, given its sampling scale, is not representative.
The US, sticking to its path of “using Taiwan to contain China,” has been hyping a “mainland invasion” to tie the island onto its chariot, Xin said, predicting salami-slicing provocations would continue and escalate because the US saw the island as a handy “card” to play in the US-China rivalry and it has “aides” – the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities and “Taiwan independence” forces – on the island.
But whoever on the island trusts Washington’s “lip service of defense” will be abandoned miserably. What the US has done to other countries and regions, especially those it called “allies” in the past decades, clearly shows how fragile US promises and commitments are, Xin said.
Noting the dangerous narrative of “Ukraine today, Taiwan tomorrow,” the expert asked “The US would not confront Russia directly for a sovereign state, so why would it confront China for the island of Taiwan, which is China’s own inalienable territory?”
Such a comparison only aims to fool the island, but more and more Taiwan residents have recognized the US’ poor credibility and the risk of becoming cannon fodder in the China-US rivalry, Xin said.
Reports that the US was considering plans to destroy the island in the event of a military conflict have made a splash on the island. The transfer of semiconductor supplier TSMC to the US convinced some to believe this.
Zhu Songling, a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of Beijing Union University, told the Global Times that the US has multiple plans for the unfolding of cross-Straits situations, and will choose whichever benefits the US most. The destiny of Taiwan island and local residents is never on the US’ mind.
You cannot wake up a person pretending to be asleep – in this case, the DPP authorities propagating rock-solid US support, said analysts, calling on Taiwan compatriots to wake up and think about their own interests.
(Global Times)
