The tense relationship between the People’s Republic of China (PRC, or commonly referred to as China) and the Republic of China (ROC, or commonly referred to as Taiwan) was on display early this month when Chinese military planes invaded Taiwan’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ). Taiwan responded to this threat by scrambling its air force, issuing radio warnings and deploying air defense missile systems in order to warn China against further aggression. Although the intrusions were into Taiwan’s ADIZ and not its sovereign airspace (which is 12 nautical miles from its coast), China’s use of bombers and J-16 fighter jets signifies an intimidating step on their part.
These intrusions by China occurred during the weekend of Chinese National Day, a holiday commemorating the founding of the PRC. This holiday was marked by nationalist sentiment by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who vowed to pursue reunification with Taiwan through peaceful means. Countering this sentiment during her nation’s own National Day, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen vowed that Taiwan would not bow to Chinese pressure. She further acknowledged this attitude when she stated that Taiwan’s opposition to Chinese rule “is because the path that China has laid out offers neither a free and democratic way of life for Taiwan, nor sovereignty for our 23 million people.”
There is precedence for this correlation between nationalist posturing and ADIZ violations. Chinese aircraft passed the median line of the ADIZ in July 1999 after former Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui seemingly made pro-independence remarks. Adam Ni, an analyst of Chinese military policy, explained this correlation when discussing the recent ADIZ invasions, stating that ‘[t]he aim of this is to assert Beijing’s power and show military muscle.”
Ever since the Kuomintang Party and its former leader Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan after losing the Chinese Civil War to Mao Zedong and the Communists, the Chinese Communist Party-led (CCP) PRC has sought to regain absolute sovereignty in neighboring regions, including Taiwan. China has often sought this power through the use of force and the threat of potential violence to settle disputes at home and abroad. Examples of this include the response to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and, more recently, the implementation of the national security law in Hong Kong.
In addition to these actions by the CCP, the United States (U.S.) took steps during the Cold War to legitimize the PRC. First, the U.S. entrusted the PRC with a seat on the United Nations Security Council in 1971 during the Nixon administration. During the Carter administration, the U.S. formally recognized the PRC and severed ties with Taiwan in 1979 (although the Taiwan Relations Act promoted arms sales and an unofficial diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and Taiwan).
The results of these policies have led to the present state of affairs between the U.S., China and Taiwan. Despite President Biden’s suggestion that the U.S. will support the defense of Taiwan against Chinese threats and the recent U.S. nuclear-powered submarine sale to Australia (a move that China viewed as a threat), China’s violations of Taiwanese ADIZ clearly demonstrates that the CCP does not take the U.S. position seriously. This should be unsurprising when looking at the U.S.’s foreign policy over the last few administrations. Whether one looks at President Obama’s failure to enforce a red-line regarding chemical weapons in Syria, President Trump’s dismissal of Russian interference in U.S. elections and bounties on U.S. troops, or President Biden’s abysmal withdrawal from Afghanistan, U.S. foreign policy has been largely timid and inadequate in achieving its goals.
In order to be taken seriously by the CCP, the U.S. must pursue an uncompromising foreign policy with regards to China. Sanctions on CCP officials are a good first step, and I commend both the Biden and Trump administrations for implementing them over the Chinese policy in Hong Kong and the internment of Uighurs. However, sanctions are not enough to deter Chinese aggression. The U.S. must end its policy of strategic ambiguity regarding Taiwan and end all diplomatic recognition of the CCP. These steps would demonstrate to China and the rest of the world that the U.S. takes the abuses of the CCP seriously, instead of the half-hearted dismissals that are common from U.S. politicians.
While one must acknowledge that these steps would not immediately change China’s internal policy, they would go a long way in discouraging China from conducting coercive foreign policy, as it would show that any aggression displayed by the CCP would be met with a proportionate counter from the U.S. This would allow U.S. allies in Asia and the Pacific to conduct their internal policies without the threat of China, due to the fact that they would have assurance of protection from the U.S., either in the form of arms sales or other supportive means. Therefore, a strong U.S. foreign policy must be pursued in order to protect Taiwan and any other democratically from Chinese aggression. Failure to do so will result in further interventions by China and a diminishment of global freedom and democracy.
