Mint Quick Edit | Beijing shouldn’t push the world into a Taiwan crisis
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. China’s President Xi Jinping had a message for Taiwan in his New Year’s speech. “We Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one and the same family," he said.
“No one can ever sever the bond of kinship between us, and no one can ever stop China’s reunification." A year ago, he had called it “inevitable" that the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan, which Beijing views as a rebel province, would unite. So, what’s new? The geopolitical context. While US President Joe Biden had signalled a will to defend the autonomy of Taiwan, a major supplier of tech chips, President-elect Donald Trump has kept his policy stance vague.
Broadly, though, Trump has telegraphed a disposition to keep the US away from overseas military engagements, which might tempt Beijing to push ahead with plans to integrate the island. As a Quad member committed to a free and open Indo-Pacific, India wouldn’t want an upheaval in the East. But it’s for Beijing to recognize the risks of using force.
Read more on livemint.com
