According to Taiwan’s defense ministry, 51 Chinese aircraft and six Chinese ships were spotted flying around Taiwan on Thursday, as Beijing continued military exercises near the island.
This includes 25 aircraft that flew into Taiwan’s air defense zone or over the Taiwan Strait’s median line, which normally serves as an unofficial barrier between the two sides.
The US government announced Thursday that it will hold economic negotiations with Taiwan in a show of solidarity for the island democracy that China claims as its own territory, prompting Beijing to warn that it will take action if necessary to ‘protect its sovereignty.’
The announcement of trade discussions comes after Beijing fired missiles into the sea to frighten Taiwan after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited the island this month as the highest-ranking American official in 25 years.
The Chinese government, led by President Xi Jinping, has denounced the scheduled meetings as a violation of its position that Taiwan has no right to engage in foreign affairs.
It cautioned Washington not to encourage the island’s de facto independence to become permanent, which Beijing claims would lead to war.
‘China vehemently opposes this,’ said Ministry of Commerce official Shu Jueting. She urged the US to ‘completely respect China’s core interests.’
Also on Thursday, Taiwan’s military conducted an exercise using missiles and cannons simulating a Chinese missile strike.
Taiwan and China divided following a civil war in 1949, and while they have no official connections, they are linked by billions of dollars in trade and investment.
The island has never been a part of the People’s Republic of China, but the ruling Communist Party maintains it must merge with the mainland, even if it means using force.
Kurt Campbell, President Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific area coordinator, stated last week that trade talks would ‘deepen our ties with Taiwan,’ but that policy would not change. The US maintains extensive informal links with Taiwan, its ninth-largest commercial partner, despite the absence of diplomatic relations. The announcement of the talks by the US Trade Representative made no mention of tensions with Beijing, but stated that ‘formal negotiations’ would develop trade and regulatory connections, a step that would entail tighter official interaction.
Allowing Taiwan to sell more to the US might help Taiwan counter China’s efforts to use its position as the island’s largest commercial partner as political leverage.
In retaliation for Pelosi’s visit on August 2, the mainland stopped imports of Taiwanese citrus and other food.
Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry welcomed the trade discussions, which it said would usher in a “new chapter” in relations with the US.
‘As the situation across the Taiwan Strait has lately deteriorated, the United States government will continue to take decisive actions to ensure security and stability across the Taiwan Strait,’ the statement stated.
Trade, security, and technological conflicts, as well as Beijing’s handling of Muslim minorities and Hong Kong, have strained relations between the United States and China.
Negotiations, according to the US Trade Representative, will take place under the auspices of Washington’s unofficial embassy in Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan.
‘China has long opposed any type of official contacts between any country and the Chinese Taiwan area,’ said Shu, the Chinese spokesperson. ‘China will take all necessary steps to firmly protect its sovereignty.’
Washington says it has no opinion on China’s and Taiwan’s status, but wants their disagreement to be resolved amicably. Federal law requires the United States government to ensure that the island has the capacity to defend itself.
‘We will continue to take calm and determined steps to maintain peace and stability in the face of Beijing’s continued efforts to undermine it, and to defend Taiwan,’ Campbell said last Friday during a conference call.
China consumes more than twice as much of Taiwan’s exports as the United States, the country’s second largest overseas market. Taiwan’s government claims that its enterprises have spent about $200 billion in the Chinese mainland. According to Beijing, a 2020 census identified 158,000 Taiwanese entrepreneurs, professionals, and others living in the mainland.
China’s embargo on citrus, salmon, and hundreds of other Taiwanese food products has harmed rural areas seen as supporters of President Tsai Ing-wen, but those goods account for less than 0.5% of Taiwan’s exports to the mainland.
Beijing took no action that may disrupt the flow of processor chips from Taiwan, which are required by Chinese companies that manufacture the world’s cellphones and consumer gadgets. The island is the world’s largest supplier of semiconductors.
A second delegation of US senators, led by Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Ed Markey, arrived in Taiwan on Sunday and met with Tsai. Following their arrival, Beijing announced a second round of military drills.
Taiwan, with a population of 23.6 million people, has responded with its own military training.
Drills at Hualien Air Base on Taiwan’s east coast simulated a response to a Chinese missile assault on Thursday. Military troops trained firing Taiwanese-made Sky Bow 3 anti-aircraft missiles and 35mm anti-aircraft artillery.
‘We didn’t panic,’ said air force Maj. Chen Teh-huan, when China began military drills. ‘Our standard training is to be on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week to prepare for missile launches,’ Chen explained. ‘We were prepared.’
The talks will also include agriculture, labor, the environment, digital technology, the status of state-owned companies, and ‘non-market measures,’ according to the US Trade Representative.
Washington and Beijing have been at odds for three years over many of the same topics.
They include China’s backing for state-owned enterprises, which dominate several industries, as well as claims that Beijing steals foreign technology and restricts access to a variety of fields in contravention of its market-opening obligations.
In response to allegations that China’s technological development practices violate its free-trade obligations and jeopardize US industrial leadership, then-President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese goods in 2019. Biden has kept the majority of the tariff increases in place.