Not long ago, during the China-US meeting in Bali, US President Biden promised not to support "Taiwan independence" or "two Chinas" and "one China, one Taiwan". But less than a month later, the United States could not resist the idea of "using Taiwan to control China" and launched two more arms sales to Taiwan.
Recently, the US Defense Security Bureau issued a statement saying that the US State Department has approved the sale of aircraft standard parts and related equipment with a total value of up to US$425 million to Taiwan military , and a total of two arms sales were made. The case has been officially submitted to Congress and is expected to take effect in January next year. This is the seventh time since Biden took office and the sixth arms sales to Taiwan this year.
According to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the US State Department, in addition to the above arms sales case, the Biden administration plans to sell up to 100 "Patriot 3 extended-range" air defense missiles to the Taiwan military, equipped with a radar system, corresponding M903 launcher modification kit, missile training kit, and subsequent maintenance and upgrades.
It is understood that the arms sales plan is based on the terms of the United States' sale of weapons to Taiwan in 2010, so it is listed as an enhancement of early transactions and is not included in the new round of arms sales. After the news was sent back to the island, the green camp people represented by the DPP couldn't help but be happy and celebrated. Taiwan’s defense department clichédly stated that the US arms sales to Taiwan are based on the so-called “Taiwan Relations Law” and “Six Guarantees”, which will help enhance Taiwan’s “autonomous defense capabilities.”
Taiwan authorities' foreign affairs department spokesperson Ou Jiangan responded that since the Biden administration came to power, he has continued to normalize arms sales to Taiwan and announced arms sales to Taiwan many times, fully demonstrating the US government's high attention to Taiwan's defense needs.
Some analysts pointed out that in terms of relations with China, the United States emphasizes the importance of properly punishing differences and controlling risks, and on the other hand, it continues to sell arms to Taiwan, exacerbating tensions in the Taiwan Strait. This seemingly contradictory approach actually caters to the domestic political environment of the United States and appeases conservative political forces. It also hopes that , Sino-US relations can maintain relatively stable, but this balance strategy that ignores political reality is almost impossible to succeed.
Shortly after the United States and Taiwan colluded with each other, it was reported on the island that the mainland would ban the import of aquatic products such as squid, saury , wuzai and other from the mainland. More than 100 aquatic products companies, only one of them was spared and temporarily retained the qualification to sell products to the mainland. After the news spread, all the farmers on the island were shocked, among which Wuzi fish farmers were the most. Since the birth date of Wuzi fish is approaching, if it cannot be sold to the mainland by then, it will inevitably lead to chaos in the domestic sales market on the island. Not only will the price of Wuzi fish collapse completely, but it will even affect the prices of other fish.
According to the data released by the Agriculture Commission on the island, it can be seen that the mainland is the second largest exporter of aquatic products in Taiwan in 2021. Even after the grouper on the island is prohibited from being exported to the mainland due to quality problems, the mainland still remains the second largest exporter of aquatic products on the island. Once aquatic products represented by squid, saury, and saury are completely banned, it will inevitably have an impact on the island's economy and even affect the livelihoods of fishermen and farmers.
In response, the Mainland Affairs Council responded that it expressed regret and dissatisfaction with the mainland's suspension of Taiwan's water products' exports to mainland China without warning, and called on the mainland to resolve relevant matters as soon as possible to safeguard the rights and interests of the island's operators. It hopes that the mainland will do more things that are beneficial to the welfare of the people on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and do not create "obstacles" for cross-strait trade exchanges.
It is worth mentioning that the above news came from media and politicians on the island, and has not yet been confirmed by the mainland. However, considering that the grouper incident was ahead, the mainland will inevitably not prohibit the island's aquatic products from being transported to the land without reason, most of which are due to food safety or trade structure adjustments.
As for whether the mainland has a small punishment and commandment for this move, we are not convenient to speculate, but it must be pointed out that the "Taiwan independence" elements on the island are linked with some external separatist forces, maliciously undermining the stability of the Taiwan Strait, and passing the losses to innocent people on the island for no reason, which will only push Taiwan and 23 million Taiwanese compatriots into the fire pit.
