By: Sauro Dasgupta
Nancy Pelosi visiting Taiwan, with Taiwanese jets escorting her plane shows the growing importance of good ties between US and Taiwan. . China’s “shoot her down” warning didn’t work.
China considers Taiwan part of its territory and has never renounced using force to bring it under its control. The United States warned China against using the visit as a pretext for military action against Taiwan.
But will the visit materialise into something useful? It’s highly unlikely.
This visit was followed by the cancelation of several military talks between US and China.
The world was unipolar till recently. However, the intensity of that unipolarity is fading because of the rise of other global secondary powers like the EU, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, France and the UK.
China feels that it is encircled by the US. US feels that China is encroaching on the South China Sea. Today, the world is once again bipolar. Despite having very few allies, China is putting up a brave fight.
US power is being challenged rapidly. While it has provided Ukraine with weapons and funds, it has been unable to do anything substantial for the helpless civilians. On China, it has been unable to aid its allies like India in their fight against China.
At the end, neither China nor the US want to end the conflict, for if they do so, the military- industrial complex of both countries will be affected adversely. While they continue their hostilities, the people will watch with bated breath and can only pray that this flashpoint at Taiwan won’t be escalated further.
(The author is PG 2, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University)
