June 02, 2021 In this Feb. 10, 2020, file photo and released by the Republic of China (ROC) Ministry of National Defense, a Taiwanese Air Force F-16 in foreground flies on the flank of a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) H-6 bomber as it passes near Taiwan.
Credit: Republic of China (ROC) Ministry of National Defense via AP
Advertisement
Tensions across the Taiwan Strait have risen sufficiently for The Economist to declare on the cover of its May 1, 2021 edition that Taiwan is now “the most dangerous place on Earth.” According to this narrative, Beijing has invested heavily in military capabilities that it can now bring to bear in a confrontation over Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province. The Chinese Communist Party has never forsworn the use of force to achieve Taiwan’s unification with the mainland. To that end, China has only merely ramped up economic and diplomatic pressure on Taiwan, but dispatched aircraft across the previously-mutually
May 24, 2021
In the run-up to this year’s World Health Assembly, Taiwan’s case for being granted observer status at the World Health Organization’s top annual meeting rested on the idea that it had much to share with the world in terms of public health, and that its limited role at the WHO prevented it from doing so.
An emerging Covid-19 crisis, however, has changed that message.
Taiwan is experiencing its worst outbreak yet. Despite being a Covid-free enclave for most of the pandemic thanks to a swift and stringent response early on, Taiwan saw more than 1,000 new cases of Covid-19 last week. Now Taiwan faces a full lockdown for the first time.
AFP
Taiwan s politicians have largely welcomed a headline and graphic on the cover the May 1, 2021 issue of
The Economist depicting the democratic island as The most dangerous place on Earth.
The graphic shows Taiwan, whose 24 million inhabitants are consistently refused representation in global organizations on the insistence of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), in the target sights of an aircraft or missile.
The image is a reference to growing military rhetoric and incursions by Beijing, which has never controlled the island, yet refuses to renounce the threat of force to annex it.
Taiwan s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) president Tsai Ing-wen said the article highlights the threat that China’s military expansion poses to the Taiwan Strait and surrounding areas.
BEIJING - China may have ramped up its military posturing over Taiwan in the wake of recent US engagement with the island, but Beijing is not about to launch a war any time soon, or likely even in the decades to come, to wrest the renegade province back.
While there is talk that any categorical statement by the United States that it would come to Taiwan s defence in the event of a conflict may end up forcing the hand of Chinese President Xi Jinping, there is no indication that he would take such drastic action.
Please subscribe or log in to continue reading the full article.