Author: Shi Jiangyue
There are new trends in Sino-US relations. On the Biden administration's side, because Washington really can't hold on anymore, the signs of wanting to communicate with China are becoming more and more obvious, and the Biden administration's decision to reduce some tariffs on China should be made soon. However, we must be wary of the fact that the Republican Party continues to ignite the Taiwan Strait issue and make dangerous provocations.
The United States stated regarding this meeting that its goal is to responsibly manage the fierce competition between the United States and China. Therefore, Washington hopes that during this meeting, it will be able to discuss setting up so-called "guardrails" on the relationship between the two countries so that competition between China and the United States will not overflow and lead to miscalculation or conflict.
At the same time, Chinese Vice Premier Liu He had a phone call with US Treasury Secretary Yellen . This has also attracted much attention. Because, there is news that US President Biden is preparing to change some of the tariffs imposed on China by former President Trump . This decision is expected to be made this month.
The U.S. "Politics" website quoted three industry officials and former federal officials familiar with the Biden administration's plans as saying that although there are still different opinions within the Biden administration, the United States may announce actions this month to cancel imports of specific goods from China. part of the tariff.
The reduction of tariffs on some goods from China is mainly because the recent inflation level in the United States has been too high and prices have been relatively high. The American people are very dissatisfied with this. The Biden administration, which is facing huge pressure, has seen its support rate decline recently. Against this background, Biden’s decision to lower tariffs on some Chinese goods is also expected.
However, the American Republican Party does not want any relaxation in Sino-US relations. They hope to continue to show "toughness against China" before the mid-term elections. Under this strategic approach, Taiwan-related issues have become a "focus" for their continued provocations.
Also on July 5, Republicans in the U.S. Congress introduced a proposal requiring the Biden administration to submit a report on the delivery status of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. Some Republican congressmen said that now is a very tense moment in the Taiwan Strait. "Delaying the delivery of arms sales to Taiwan will affect the ability to deter the People's Liberation Army from taking offensive actions."
Look, the Republican congressmen are actually worried that the Biden administration will be slow in delivering arms sales to Taiwan.
This proposal, called the "Arms Exports Delivery Solutions Act" (Arms Exports Delivery Solutions Act), was co-sponsored by McCaul, the top Republican member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Republican Federal Representative Kim Ying-ok from California .
McCall
The purpose of this proposal is to track the transfer of weapons sold by the United States to Taiwan and other "Indo-Pacific allies" and ensure the effective delivery of these defense equipment. Because the current weapons production capacity of the United States is limited, and in order to cope with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and meet the weapons needs of Ukraine , most of the production capacity of the U.S. military industry is focused on providing weapons to Ukraine.
In addition, the U.S. military industry company is still facing severe supply chain shortage pressure. Therefore, some Republican congressmen are worried that the delivery time of some weapons sold to Taiwan will be delayed. They want the Biden administration to make it clear how it plans to provide Taiwan with Delivery of weapons, and how these external factors affect the timeline for delivery of weapons.
Many Republican congressmen have asked the executive branch at public hearings more than once to explain the delay in the delivery of U.S. arms sales to Taiwan. According to US media reports, members of Congress are currently asking the executive branch to provide explanations on the delivery progress of arms sales projects worth at least hundreds of millions of dollars to Taiwan.
By proposing this motion, they hope to require relevant departments to find out specifically the reasons for the delay in the delivery of weapons to Taiwan and propose solutions to speed up the delivery.
On the other hand, the Taiwan military is also accelerating the pace of its own weapons manufacturing.
On July 6, the Taiwan Air Force displayed the "Brave Eagle" higher education aircraft designed and built by Taiwan. It used dynamic and static displays to express the determination of the so-called "self-defense" and to gradually replace the old higher education aircraft with self-made advanced . Plans for older models.
Most of the weapons and equipment of the Taiwan military are provided by the United States, including fighter aircraft that are currently in service with the Taiwan military and will be in service in the future. However, after Nanako came to power, she took the lead in proposing a new strategy of building self-made aircraft and warships in an attempt to comprehensively enhance Taiwan's ability to build military weapons.
The "Yongying" higher education aircraft is developed and manufactured by Taiwan's Hanxiang Aviation Industry Corporation, with a research and development budget of NT$68.6 billion (approximately US$2.3 billion). The aircraft held its first test flight in 2020. This is the first public display of the aircraft after it was delivered to the Air Force.
The "Yongying" high-education aircraft is also an IDF fighter aircraft made in Taiwan more than 30 years ago and is still in service. It has once again launched a new air force fighter aircraft in batches. Although the "Brave Eagle" has some similarities with IDF fighters in appearance, it has undergone many modern upgrades in terms of performance and airborne equipment.
Hanxiang Aviation Industry Company has currently delivered 4 "Brave Eagle" higher education aircraft to the 7th Wing of the Taiwan Air Force stationed in Taitung. These 4 higher education aircraft can already meet the current training needs.
According to the plan, the Taiwan Air Force will obtain a total of 66 "Yangying" higher education aircraft before 2026. With the successive delivery of the "Brave Eagle", the Taiwan Air Force's F-5 fighter aircraft , which has been in service for nearly 50 years and is used for training, will be retired in 2024. The AT-3 high-education aircraft currently used by the Taiwan Air Force will also be launched one after another from 2025. Retired.
While trying to speed up the delivery of weapons to Taiwan, some Republicans are still exaggerating that "the United States should abandon its strategic ambiguity strategy toward the Taiwan Strait."
Former U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo recently attended a symposium of the conservative think tank "Policy Exchange" in the UK and declared: "The United States should abandon its vague strategic strategy towards Taiwan, because the fact that Russia sent troops to Ukraine has proven that, Vague policies are more dangerous."
Pompeo used sophistry to muddy the waters. He said that the danger of strategic ambiguity is that surrounding countries do not know how to react in the event of a conflict; and vague policies will also give the active attacking party more opportunities to take advantage of the enemy. It is difficult for the attacking party and its allies to respond promptly and adequately.
In addition, Pompeo’s sinister intention is that he wants to further expand the tense atmosphere in the Taiwan Strait. He exaggerated that the current coercion from Beijing in neighboring regions and countries such as the Solomon Islands, the Philippines, and Japan reflects complex geopolitical issues.
In fact, we don’t expect people like Pompeo to say anything good. From a domestic perspective in the United States, what is very interesting is that General Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had just cooled down the Taiwan Strait issue two days ago, and the Republican Party was eager to jump out.
General Milley is the top general of the US military. At a time when the U.S. intelligence community is frequently hyping up tensions in the Taiwan Strait, Milley said that a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait is not imminent, but that the United States is observing the situation "very closely."
Milley also said, "It is clear that the People's Liberation Army is developing the ability to attack Taiwan at some point, but initiating non-peaceful means will be a political choice." Observing Milley's speech, we can see that he emphasized more on "maybe, should be, maybe will". From the use of words, it can be seen that he is cooling down the situation in the Taiwan Strait.
And Milli's "cooling down" is for a reason. On the one hand, the United States is now deeply involved in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but the situation in the Russia-Ukraine war is now increasingly favorable to Russia, and the Russian army is advancing in depth. The Russian army, which has a huge military advantage, has reported many developments.
On the Ukrainian side, after the strategic city of Lisichansk was captured, Kiev could only work hard to slow down the advancement of Russian troops in eastern Ukraine. Therefore, the United States is now busy cleaning up this mess.
On the other hand, the United States is unwilling to be involved in a "costly military conflict" in the Asia-Pacific. The United States is currently unable to treat China and Russia as "war rivals" at the same time. This is a reality. If the United States loses, major internal problems will be exposed. Therefore, the attitude of the Biden administration also realistically reflects the current predicament of the United States.
