Recent aggression toward Taiwan by the Chinese communist regime shows that Beijing is looking to test the resolve of the Biden administration, particularly in the wake of the U. S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, experts tell Fox News.
Beijing, which claims sovereignty over Taiwan, has sent dozens of warplanes over the last month towards the territory’s air defense zone, part of a muscular approach to the region which has been escalating for months. President Xi Jinping has also renewed calls for it to be brought into China, calling for "peaceful reunification."
Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province and claims that it is part of its own territory. The two countries split in 1949 and China has been increasing pressure on the self-ruled nation, while opposing its involvement in international organizations such as at the United Nations. The U. S. does not formally recognize Taiwan, but maintains an unofficial relationship and is supportive of its democratic government.
Experts say that, while there are many aspects to why China has been increasing its aggressive maneuvers recently toward the U. S. ally, including domestic power struggles, the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is one of those contributing factors.
"They periodically ratchet up the pressure to pressure Taiwan, to pressure the United States and to probe weaknesses, to test our resolve," James Anderson, President of the Institute of World Politics and a former senior defense official in the Trump administration, told Fox News. "And probably the proximate cause of the most recent escalation and probing has to do with our sloppy and unfortunate disaster with respect to the withdrawal from Afghanistan."
The withdrawal at the end of August is seen as having damaged U. S. standing and commitment abroad, and Chinese state media used the chaotic departure as an opportunity to mock the U.S.
"U. S. just showed the world that it’s unable or unwilling to confront a small adversary in Afghanistan with very basic weapons," the state-controlled Global Times tweeted. "So in the future, when it urges its allies to challenge major powers like China and Russia, very few would follow."
Heino Klinck, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, noted that aggression has preceded the withdrawal, but he believes it feeds a narrative of U. S. weakness.
"We have seen a marked increase in Chinese aggressiveness and assertiveness over the past year, so you could argue this is not something new and associated with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, although the withdrawal from Afghanistan feeds the Chinese narrative of inevitable decline of U. S. power," he said.
He warned that a failure by the U. S. to support Taiwan could be even more damaging to the U.S. reputation abroad.
"If the U. S. commitment to Taiwan falters, that will send a signal to the rest of the world that the Afghanistan debacle will pale to in comparison," he said.
It was an assessment shared by Anderson: "[The Chinese] are certainly trying to create a narrative and promote and further a narrative that the United States is an unreliable ally and partner, and that needs to be countered."
Isaac Stone Fish, CEO of Strategy Risks, a firm which measures China risk, told Fox that recent aggression seems to be intended "to test U. S. resolve to defend Taiwan, and Beijing seem... (Read more)
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