Countermeasures Taken by China to Defend Its Sovereignty
On
August 5, in response to the August 2 visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi,
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, the People's Republic of
China announced a series of eight countermeasures to defend its
sovereignty. Taiwan is part of China's territory and the U.S. purports
to uphold and respect the one-China policy, yet Pelosi's visit was made
without China's permission and thus was highly provocative and aimed at
undermining China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
China's eight countermeasures are:
1. Cancelling China-U.S.
Theater Commanders Talk.
2. Cancelling China-U.S. Defense
Policy Coordination Talks.
3. Cancelling China-U.S. Military
Maritime Consultative Agreement meetings.
4. Suspending
China-U.S. cooperation on the repatriation of illegal immigrants.
5. Suspending China-U.S. cooperation on legal assistance in criminal
matters.
6. Suspending China-U.S. cooperation against
transnational crimes.
7. Suspending China-U.S.
counternarcotics cooperation.
8. Suspending China-U.S. talks
on climate change.
Analysts cited by the Global Times indicate that the countermeasures are aimed at systematically defending China's sovereignty and should not be considered one-off actions. China also announced it has sanctioned Pelosi and her immediate family members, without giving details.
These eight countermeasures are in addition to large-scale military exercises by the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conducted in the waters and airspace around Taiwan from August 3 to 7.
As concerns the first three countermeasures, Lü Xiang, an expert in U.S. studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the cancellation of these three aspects which concern the working mechanisms between the Chinese and U.S. militaries means that the mutual trust between the two and military-to-military relations have reached an all-time low, raising the risk of conflict. He explained that because all the security needs for Pelosi's trip, including her aircraft, were provided by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), it is the U.S. military and the DoD that is responsible for this affront to China's sovereignty. The cancellation of these talks sends a clear signal to the U.S. that the Chinese side will never accept the U.S. blatantly damaging China-U.S. relations without bearing any consequences, Lü added.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese expert on military matters, told the Global Times that with the U.S. provocations on the Taiwan question, one of China's core interests and a cornerstone of bilateral relations with the U.S., China's countermeasures are aimed at safeguarding its sovereignty, and that further provocations from the U.S. will increase the possibility of conflict.
Notably, the PLA's military drills not only indicate China's determination and capability of solving the Taiwan question at any time, but it also showed its deterrent and area defence capabilities, Lü pointed out. He added that these drills, taken in concert with China's withdrawal from the mechanisms for bilateral working relations with the U.S. military, mean that the PLA can now take recourse to any countermeasures against any offensive actions by the U.S. military, based on how the situation evolves. The U.S. should take China's countermeasures as a message to think carefully about what kind of China-U.S. relations it wants, Lü noted.
Xin Qiang, deputy director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times that China's withdrawal from talks in the five other areas will disproportionately affect the U.S. For example, while U.S. President Joe Biden has made significant diplomatic progress in climate change since he took office, progress also requires support and cooperation with China and the U.S. will not be able to achieve anything by itself, Xin said.
Other matters, such as the repatriation of illegal immigrants and cooperation to interdict trafficking of illegal drugs, such as fentanyl, are of greater concern to the U.S. with a relatively small impact on China, Xin added.
Qi Kai, an expert on international political economy at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times that the Biden administration, rather than taking measures to stop Pelosi's visit pretended it had no control over the situation and instead played "good cop" to Pelosi's "bad cop." He also pointed out that a further aim of China's countermeasures is to discourage other countries and their politicians from following the example of the U.S. and Pelosi.
Other countries have already indicated plans for similar provocative visits. The UK's House of Commons' Foreign Affairs Committee is planning a visit to Taiwan in November or early December, The Guardian reported on August 1. Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis on August 3 made the provocative tweet that with Pelosi now having "opened the door to Taiwan much wider," other such visits by "defenders of freedom and democracy" will shortly follow.
This article was published in
Volume 52 Number 6 - August 17, 2022
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/Tmlm2022/Articles/MS52062.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca Email: editor@cpcml.ca