Taiwan’s “President,” Tsai Ing-wen, took off on a world diplomacy trip and China is hopping mad about it. The thing that infuriates them the most is an upcoming visit she has planned, to meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California. Beijing, once again, is trying to break their communication down to something even Antony Blinken can understand. They’re threatening us with “retaliation,” Fox reports. They also keep reminding us that Taiwan doesn’t have a “president.”
China talking tough
As Fox News reports on Wednesday, March 29, “China has threatened to retaliate against the United States and Taiwan over a planned meeting between Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.”
Despite the clear warning, nobody is backing down. The Chinese are far too diplomatic to use the plain words. As Foreign Minister Qin “Dances with Wolves” Gang puts it, they’re preparing “resolute countermeasures” if Ing-wen sits down with McCarthy.
Just how “resolute” those countermeasures are remains to be seen. The word means “determined” and “showing a resolution.” China is clearly ready to take drastic steps. A meeting with McCarthy could be the last one Tsai Ing-wen ever has. That’s only one option on the table.
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said that external pressure will not prevent Taipei from engaging with the world after China threatened retaliation if she met US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during her transit through the United States https://t.co/7i5gtIaVwv pic.twitter.com/0fsMy4akFZ
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 29, 2023
Fox notes that April 5 is the big day when “the head of the self-governing island democracy visits Los Angeles, California.” McCarthy was afraid to travel to meet her in Taiwan but he’ll meet her there. The Pooh Bear isn’t happy.
“We firmly oppose this and will take resolute countermeasures,” Zhu Fenglian, the spokesperson for the Cabinet’s Taiwan Affairs Office, announced Wednesday at a press briefing.
Along with the recent shakeup where Wang Yi was replaced by fierce Xi Jinping loyalist Qin Gang, they seem to have formed a special department to focus on the “re-unification” of Taiwan. The CCP official warned U.S. figures to “refrain from arranging Tsai Ing-wen’s transit visits and even contact with American officials.”
Don’t do it
China is suggesting we take a deep breath and rethink what could happen next. Fenglian also noted that making a show of officially backing down would go a long way toward preventing what’s being planned for us. The Taiwan Affairs office urged Joe and Blinky to “take concrete actions to fulfill its solemn commitment not to support Taiwan independence.”
That clearly says “call Kevin and tell him to cancel that meeting and do it now.” If not, things could get explosive.
Tsai will basically be changing planes in New York on Thursday, March 30, her itinerary reveals, “before she heads to Guatemala and Belize for several days.” It’s the return trip that has the Chinese embassy typing out furious press releases. “She will return to the U.S. in the middle of the week to stay in Los Angeles, where the meeting with McCarthy is scheduled to take place.”
China firmly opposes Tsai Ing-wen's planned "transit" visit to the US to meet US officials and will take resolute countermeasures in such an event, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told a press conference on Wednesday. #Taiwan pic.twitter.com/l9efDkbO1M
— China Daily (@ChinaDaily) March 29, 2023
Whether her plane makes it back to Taiwan from there is a matter for speculation. Another one is whether Taiwan will be there for her plane to land at. China is clearly telling the whole world that they’re serious. We can continue to ignore their warnings but we do so at our own risk.
Officially, we recognize “the One-China policy that observes China has sovereignty over Taiwan.” While we give it lip service, we’ve been trying to seduce Taiwan with the wiles of Democracy and Xi Jinping feels like a cuckold husband. As she boarded her plane Wednesday, Tsai gave a few words of encouragement.
“I want to tell the whole world democratic Taiwan will resolutely safeguard the values of freedom and democracy, and will continue to be a force for good in the world, continuing a cycle of goodness, strengthening the resilience of democracy in the world. External pressure will not obstruct our resolution to engage with the world.” That could be why the diplomats in China used “resolute” in their warning. That statement could turn out to be Tsai’s “famous last words.“
