Frictions between China and the US go well beyond tariff disputes. Image: REUTERS/Jason Lee
Officials from Washington and Beijing are meeting in Alaska on Thursday.
TOKYO — When President Joe Biden’s national security team prepares to meet their Chinese counterparts at a high-stakes summit in Alaska on Thursday, one of the most urgent issues they must tackle is Beijing’s growing threat to Taipei.
Top U.S. military officials are warning with increasing urgency that China could in the next few years invade Taiwan, the island nation whose disputed political status has long been a fraught subject of U.S.-China relations. It’s a timeline they say has been accelerated by the Trump administration’s repeated provocation of Beijing, China’s rapid military build-up, and recent indications that Taiwan could unilaterally declare its independence from the mainland.
Such an invasion would be an explosive event that could throw the whole region into chaos and potentially culminate in a shooting war between China and the United States, which according to the Taiwan Relations Act would consider a Chinese invasion a “grave concern” and is widely understood as a commitment to help Taiwan defend itself against Beijing.
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WNU Editor: Here is a good review on what to expect from Thursday's US-China summit in Alaska .... How To Avoid "The Unthinkable": US-China Summit In Alaska Will Take Up Explosive Taiwan Issue (Zero Hedge).
We already have a good idea on what to expect .... Blinken warns China against 'coercion and aggression' on first Asia trip (Reuters).
