(RightWing.org) – The People’s Republic of China (PRC), the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), and President Xi Jinping all claim that the Republic of China (ROC/Taiwan) is merely a province in rebellion, while they remain the only legitimate government over both countries. Since 1979, the United States has “acknowledged” that this is the Chinese position on the matter but does not “recognize” it to be the legal reality and has spent the intervening time helping Taiwan maintain its independence. President Joe Biden’s administration recently made a move that affirms this commitment.
Mainland Aggression
The PRC has stepped up its combative posture in the South China Sea as it continues to build military installations by constructing artificial islands on atolls and reefs throughout the region. This has brought the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) into confrontations with the Philippines, and especially with Taiwan by conducting military maneuvers that have included mock attacks to prove that they could quickly overwhelm the island nation’s defense forces before Western nations could react.
In response, Biden authorized the sale of $360 million worth of American military hardware to Taiwan to help them stave off Beijing should they decide to attack. The package includes two types of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)/drones totaling roughly 1,000 units.
Taiwan spent just over $60 million for 720 of the Switchblade 300 loitering munitions (along with necessary equipment to use them), which are small 4-pound tube-launched drones that can fly for approximately 20 minutes allowing soldiers to view the battlefield before sending the missile in what is described as a “kamikaze-style” attack. The other $300 million went to the purchase of up to 291 ALTIUS 600M-V multipurpose drones which can be configured with attack warheads, electronic signal intelligence gathering equipment, and communications relay nodes. They have a four-hour flight time.
The Chinese Supreme Court People’s Court along with various ministries of the PRC and CCP jointly announced a set of guidelines of how criminal punishments would be imposed on “Taiwan independence separatists,” according to the official state news agency Xinhua. This framework would apparently allow the rulers in Beijing to try someone like recently sworn-in Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te — whom the PRC and CCP have said fits into that category — in absentia and sentence him to death.
Pundits around the world have speculated that Xi and the rest of the governing body in China are fearful that former President Donald Trump will win a second term in November because of his hard-line attitude towards them the first time around. Whether or not this is fueling their recent aggressiveness is anybody’s guess, but as the election draws near, one can safely bet that Taiwan will be keeping a wary eye on the narrow strait that separates them from the mainland.
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