(Dan Tri) – The US has stepped up its challenge to China on all fronts, from the East Sea, Taiwan to human rights.
The destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur, one of two US warships that recently passed through the Taiwan Strait.
Bloomberg commented that although the US and China are getting closer to an agreement to end the trade war, the Trump administration is increasingly fierce in challenging Beijing’s geopolitical red lines.
Since March 25, the US has sent a warship through the Taiwan Strait, published a report criticizing travel restrictions in Tibet and welcomed Uyghur exiles at the State Department.
The moves – all of which ignore China’s warnings not to interfere in what it calls internal affairs – came shortly before US Commerce Secretary Steven Mnuchin and US Trade Representative
All three visits by US trade delegations since President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced a temporary halt to the trade war on December 1, 2018, took place after maritime patrols.
Increasingly hostile
The above moves demonstrate the growing strategic confrontation between the world’s two leading powers, which many observers predict will last longer than any US-China trade agreement.
Up to now, the Chinese side has maintained a policy of `strategic calm` towards the Trump administration, opposing every move and not linking security disagreements with trade negotiations.
Mr. Wang Dong, secretary general of the Pangoal Institute, a research group in Beijing, said that the US moves were reminiscent of the `gunboat diplomacy` policy of the 19th century, when the US and other Western powers
US military support for Taiwan, which Beijing considers a province and remains open to the use of force for reunification, has angered Beijing.
The confrontation between the US and China has increased since Mr. Trump came to power (Photo: AP)
China immediately warned the US.
“We urge the US to fully realize the highly sensitive and harmful nature of the relevant issue,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said last week about the possibility of the US selling fighter jets.
Although Mr. Trump has avoided publicly recognizing Taiwan since his pre-inauguration phone call with leader Tsai Ing-wen, he has signed a proposal calling for increased military and diplomatic exchanges with the island.
“Unfortunately, when facing these challenges, Taiwan does not stand alone,” Ms. Tsai Ing-wen said while transiting in Hawaii.
Meanwhile, the US also challenged Beijing’s sovereignty claims by sending warships to challenge sovereignty claims in the East Sea.
Avoiding the above conflicts from trade negotiations may become more difficult, as negotiations enter a sprint phase and the US increases its toughness on sensitive fronts.
“The US seems willing to play the Taiwan card in a more extreme direction,” the Global Times wrote in an editorial on March 6.
Peaceful