China Should Not Just Say “No” to the U.S.’s Sale of Weapons to Taiwan

According to a foreign affairs website, on Jan. 30, China’s vice minister of foreign affairs urgently summoned the U.S. ambassador, Hong Bo Pei, to China to lodge a solemn account regarding the U.S.’s declaration of the sale of “Black Hawk” helicopters, Patriot 3 missiles, radars and so on, totaling $6.4 billion worth of weapons, to Taiwan.

Playing the game of balancing geopolitics and core benefits is an enduring process. Although Bush Jr. is not an orator like Obama, he is not a Texas cowboy either. Yet, when it comes to the interests of the U.S.’s geopolitics, regardless of whether the government is led by Republicans or Democrats, the first thing they do is make use of Taiwan, especially when the tension between Taiwan and China is lessening. The U.S. is unwilling to see these two countries become too friendly. This is because the U.S. is unable to profit from their relationship. That is why, whenever the relationship between China and the U.S. sours, the U.S. will always sell weapons to Taiwan as a move to contain China. All of this affects the crux of the relationship between China and the U.S.

Yet to China, the existence of American weapon sales to Taiwan is the last straw. This can neither be seen as speculation nor a childish taunt. No matter how big an impact the sale of weapons to Taiwan has on the future of China and Taiwan, this move will initiate a chaotic and tense situation in the Taiwan Strait, thus affecting the common growth of these two neighboring nations. In turn, their relationship will take a downturn. The U.S.’s aim is achieved when it sees such tense cross-strait relations between the two.

When the cross-strait relationship is tense, the U.S. can benefit. The U.S. is apparently violating the spirit of three communiqués through such means. In spite of the fact that the weapon transaction happened when the relationship between China and the U.S. was pretty good, this will not change the fact that the U.S.’s way of doing things is to act in its own best interest. The struggle for Taiwan’s independence from China will continue and Taiwanese authorities will misinterpret the situation, given the signals that the U.S. has created. This further strains the cross-strait relationship, which is something that the people of Taiwan and China are reluctant to see.

Yet, the U.S. assumed that China’s reaction would be only a stance, one which would not affect the national interests of the U.S. However, these assumptions are childish. China’s reaction is far beyond what the U.S. had imagined. If the U.S. gets away with this and does not repent, it will continue with its ways. Thus, China’s current reaction to the U.S.’s insistence on selling weapons to Taiwan is considered normal. China’s forceful reaction is also necessary. One should definitely not get away with things by attempting to use only logic to determine one’s actions.

China has already shown its firm stance on the U.S. sale of weapons to Taiwan for consecutive days. China strongly urges the U.S. to understand the serious dangers of selling weapons to Taiwan and abide by the three communiqués between China and the U.S., especially in the case of the third communiqué (established Aug. 17, 1982), which was to respect China’s core interests and concerns with actions that would maintain and enhance the development of a stable relationship between China and the U.S.

The Taiwan issue involves China’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, core interests and the nationalist sentiments of the Chinese. The relationship between China and the U.S. is still the most important and sensitive core issue. China strongly urges the U.S. to fully understand the serious harm of the sale of weapons to Taiwan and to adopt a serious attitude toward China’s solemn stand on this situation by annulling the decision to sell weapons to Taiwan immediately and terminating the sale of weapons to Taiwan. Otherwise, the U.S. has to be held responsible for the consequences of the sale. The U.S. should know that this is not only the Chinese government’s stand, but also that of all Chinese. The U.S.’s idea that the sale of weapons to Taiwan would not anger China is ridiculous, since such an act also challenges China’s sovereignty. The era in which Taiwan would be the U.S.’s obedient ally is already over.

According to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the sale of weapons to Taiwan had already strained the relationship between China and America. China had decided to delay consultations, which supposedly would take place in the near future, on strategic security, arms control and nuclear proliferation, at China-U.S. vice-ministerial levels. China has also sanctioned the U.S. Companies involved in the sale of weapons to Taiwan. According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry official, cooperation between China and the U.S. at international and regional levels has also been affected.

The U.S.’s inconsistency has again revealed its true colors. However, times are changing. It is time for the U.S. to change its hegemonic way of thinking. Since China dares to challenge the U.S. while it is still in its stage of nation-building, others should be able to comprehend what the U.S. is doing based on how China deals with the U.S.’s provocation and persistently hypocritical ways. Now, perhaps people will change their favorable opinions of Obama overnight. If you think your country’s national interests are important and you choose to continually challenge China, treading on China’s core interests, then you have to pay the price for doing so!