Pompeo Has Wilfully Crossed China’s Red Line on Taiwan, And Now The World Waits to See How Beijing Will Respond
- Pompeo Has Wilfully Crossed China’s Red Line on Taiwan, And Now The World Waits to See How Beijing Will Respond
by Tom Fowdy, https://www.rt.com/
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s latest attempt to improve ties between America and Taiwan has enraged Beijing and is a direct challenge to Xi Jinping. How China reacts could be a major problem for Joe Biden.
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On Saturday, Mike Pompeo lifted restrictions between American officials and their counterparts in Taiwan, saying the engagement rules were “null and void.” Claiming the protocols were self-imposed in order to appease Beijing, Pompeo said the State Department would no longer follow them, prompting a furious response from China, which declared his decision as “crossing a red line.”
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With occupancy of the White House set to change in little over a week, the move is widely seen as the dropping of a bomb for President-elect Joe Biden as he prepares to take office, and an attempt to orchestrate a crisis with Beijing. Taiwan quickly moved to praise Pompeo, however, saying his move had elevated the Washington-Taipei relationship to a “global partnership.”
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What does China do now? It’s never been a secret that Pompeo has sought to push against the ‘One China Policy’ – a staple of America’s diplomatic relationship with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since the ’70s.
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Beijing has built its ideological legitimacy around the fabric of eventually achieving reunification with Taiwan and blocking moves towards its formal independence. If America subsequently succeeds in pushing back against this without any retaliation, it would represent a major blow to Beijing.
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While China is aiming to rebuild its relationship with the US under Biden, it cannot allow this move by Pompeo to go unchecked. Logically, there must be some form of retaliation, despite the risks that come with it. How things play out will be fascinating.
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