TAIPEI, Taiwan—A French parliamentary delegation pledged support for Taiwan during a meeting Thursday with the president of the self-governing island democracy that the Chinese regime claims as its own territory.
The CCP, which has never ruled Taiwan, views the self-governed island as a breakaway province and has not ruled out the use of force to bring it under its control.
(Taiwan Ministry of National Defense via AP)
Beijing views Taiwan as part of its own territory and strongly opposes any type of formal interaction between other countries and the self-ruled island democracy.
Another 55 Chinese warplanes and seven vessels were spotted near the self-ruling island on Sept. 19, with 27 planes spotted entering the southwest of Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ).
Takaichi told a parliamentary session earlier in November that a military attack on Taiwan could be viewed as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, a classification that could allow Japan to exercise the right to self-defense.
China’s communist regime is threatening to seize Taiwan, on the belief that the self-ruled island is a renegade province that should be united with the mainland. In March, Adm. John Aquilino, then-head of the U.S.
In response, the Japan Self-Defense Forces immediately began shadowing the fleet. The Fujian then turned south, making its route appear more like a simulated assault on Taiwan rather than a straightforward, cautious trip to the South China Sea.
Austin, in his comments, arrived at China and the matter of Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island located 70 miles across the Taiwan Strait from the Chinese mainland that the CCP claims as part of its territory.
The latest move will position a combined operational commander in Japan, whose role will include being part of the head of a joint operation command created on March 24 by Japan's Self-Defense Forces.
Taiwan is a self-governing democracy.
However, ahead of Taiwan's 2024 general election, the CCP is hoping to win influence in Taiwan's domestic politics.
This is the second response China's Ministry of Defense has made to U.S. military aircraft visits to Taiwan. The previous one was in early June when U.S.
Xi has repeatedly vowed to annex Taiwan, a self-ruled island that the CCP views as its own territory, and his defense minister even directly threatened war to achieve that goal.
The survey found that a growing number of Americans support Taiwan, with 46 percent in favor of sending U.S. forces to defend the self-ruled democratic island if invaded, up from 39 percent in 2019.
Chinese fighter jets continue to fly over Taiwan, while Australian Defence Minister Peter Dutton said it was "inconceivable" Australia would not back the United States in the event it chose to provide aid to the self-ruled island in its defense against
The act authorizes the United States to provide the island with military equipment for its self-defense, and set up a nonprofit corporation called the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which is the de facto U.S. embassy on the island.
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers during a visit to Taiwan last year called for the United States to partner more closely with the self-governing island.
That trip resulted in conversations that were "optimistic and forward-looking," Sen.
However, military assistance to Ukraine and Israel has strained the defense department and led to an arms sales backlog to Taiwan of about $20 billion, equivalent to the island’s annual defense budget.
The CCP claims Taiwan as part of its territory despite Taiwan being an self-ruled island with a democratically-elected government. The CCP has vowed to conquer the island by force if necessary.
According to Taiwanese news site Focus Taiwan, Shanahan said that Washington would continue to supply Taiwan with military equipment, in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), for the island’s self-defense.
He described the self-ruled island's separation as "a highly destructive and dangerous gray rhino" that must be stopped, attributing the expansion of Taiwan's defense forces to U.S. interference and "connivance."
The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force recently conducted its first joint navy drills with Tonga and Fiji to bolster defense cooperation with both island nations.
Do so, and the Japan Self-Defense Force might even join in.
Where’s the Catch?
As is usually the case with U.S. policy toward Taiwan, there’s a degree of schizophrenia.
Simultaneously, the CCP would launch missile strikes on U.S. military bases in Japan and on Japanese Self-Defense Force bases, forcing Japan to determine whether and how to use retaliatory capabilities.
