06 October 2021 10:09
In four days, 145 Chinese fighter jets took off towards Taiwan, the island over which Beijing claims control. The Chinese jets, never so numerous, have entered the Taiwanese air identification zone, forcing the island’s aviation to take off in turn to be ready in case of need.
This is not a violation of Taiwanese airspace proper, which would be an act of war, but repeated intimidation maneuvers, intended to send a clear message to the Taiwanese: you are at our mercy.
To leave no doubt, the Global Times, the nationalist newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, wrote: “Airplanes are not a representative fleet, but a combat force. The People’s Liberation Army organizes the siege of Taiwan and carries out a show of force as it did in Beijing in 1949 ”.
There is evidently an aspect of psychological pressure to this action, both from the planes and from the zealous Beijing columnists. But as is always the case with China, it is best to take threats seriously. The conquest of Taiwan is the main goal of Chinese number one Xi Jinping, who would like to go down in history as the architect of the reunification of the former middle empire.
Several elements that have emerged in recent weeks have forced Beijing to act, starting with the creation of the Aukus, the alliance between the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia which has been much talked about and which is rightly perceived as a pact against China.
The Chinese offensive aims to weaken the morale of the Taiwanese in the long wave of the departure of the Americans from Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul. Beijing’s message in this sense is: “Don’t rely on the United States, because they won’t come to help you.”
It is in this context that Tsai Ing-wen, president of Taiwan democratically elected by the 23 million inhabitants of the island, published an opinion on the American website Foreign Affairs on 5 October, in which he warned the world: “If Taiwan should falling, the consequences would be dramatic for regional peace and for the democratic system. This development would demonstrate that the confrontation of values on a world level authoritarianism has prevailed over democracy ”.
US support for Taiwan is not a foregone conclusion. There is no alliance treaty between the United States and Taiwan, because Washington recognizes mainland China, that of Beijing. This strategic ambiguity explains the great instability of in the area.
As Jean-Pierre Cabestan, a specialist in Asian affairs and author of a book significantly titled “The China of Tomorrow, War or Peace?” Explains, the main question concerns the possibility that Beijing will take the risk of a war for the conquest of Taiwan, aware of the fact that “Taiwan no longer has the means to resist an offensive by the Chinese army on its own. In the event of war, only a massive military commitment by the United States could save the island ”.
This explains the nervousness of the Chinese embassy in France, which unsuccessfully tried to prevent a visit to Taiwan, scheduled this week, of some French hints led by former Socialist Defense Minister Alain Richard. Beijing wants to isolate Taiwan from the outside world, in the hope that it will fall like a ripe fruit. The question of the fate of the island is now at the center of the global geopolitical conflict.
(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)
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