China's Eastern Theater Command exercise near Taiwan

Beijing/Washington – A virtual meeting between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled for next Tuesday. Before that, China’s Eastern Theater Command conducted a military exercise near Taiwan. China has said the exercise is aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty. At the same time, China threatened that the United States should stop supporting Taiwan’s independence. Therefore, China has given the message that it will not compromise with the Biden administration regarding Taiwan.

During the tenure of Donald Trump as US President, the issues of Huawei, trade war, Hong Kong, Taiwan caused tension between the United States and China. Currently, President Joe Biden is making efforts to streamline relations with China. In the last two months, a special meeting was held between the US and Chinese foreign ministers. US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman visited China to discuss ways to improve cooperation. Efforts in the same direction will also be made at a virtual meeting between Biden and Jinping on Tuesday. But before the meeting, China has issued a warning to the United States.

China’s Eastern Theater Command has started exercises near Taiwan, including the Chinese army, navy and air force. A US congressional delegation visited Taiwan last week. Claiming that Taiwan is its integral part, China had announced that it would hold war exercises to protest the visit of the US Congress delegation to Taiwan. But with the exercises ahead of the meeting with Biden, China has shown the United States that it will not compromise on Taiwan.

Along with the exercises, the Chinese foreign ministry has also issued a warning to the Biden administration. ‘Taiwan is a sovereign Chinese territory and the efforts for Taiwan’s independence will threaten the peace and stability of the region. Therefore, the Biden administration should declare its opposition to Taiwan’s independence and adhere to the one-China position’, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned. Foreign Minister Wang cautioned that if the United States continued its efforts for Taiwan’s independence, the consequences would backfire on the United States.

While the Biden administration is trying to streamline relations with China, the US Indo-Pacific Command is trying to improve cooperation with other countries in the region. Senior US Indo-Pacific Command officials have visited Japan and India over the past month. At the same time, patrols and exercises were also organised in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea. The discord between the Biden administration’s China policy and the US defence system has been exposed to the world once again.