China-US, dangerous maneuvers and risk of war: “It would be a disaster”

A near collision, two warships passing 137 meters apart, tensions rising between Washington and Beijing. China now accuses the United States and Canada of “deliberately causing risk” after the (near) collision in the Taiwan Strait between the destroyer USS Chung-Hoon, transiting with the Canadian naval unit HMCS Montreal, and a warship in Beijing. The White House claims the Chinese vessel made “unnecessarily aggressive maneuvers” approaching the bow twice, forcing the American destroyer to slow down to avoid collision. The Chinese ship’s “dangerous manoeuvres” were interpreted as an announcement of “future provocations”. The Chinese Defense Ministry, on the other hand, considered Washington’s “provocations” equally dangerous. Warning against “NATO-like” alliances in Asia and the Pacific. With a not-so-veiled reference to the Aukus military deal between Australia, Britain and the US. Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu warns: “A war would be an unsustainable disaster for the world.”

“We must prevent attempts that seek to use this freedom of navigation in exercises of navigational hegemony”, he added, inviting the US and its allies to focus on “taking care of their own airspace and territorial waters”. “If anyone dares to separate Taiwan from China, the Chinese military will not hesitate for a second,” Li added.

“We fear no adversaries and will safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity regardless of the cost.” The island of Taiwan has been an independent country since 1949. On October 1 of that year, Mao Tse-tung proclaimed the birth of the People’s Republic of China, with socialist inspiration. Chiang Kai-shek and the nationalists who fought against him took refuge in Taiwan, taking the country’s gold reserves with them and founding a new state. Both Beijing and Taipei declare themselves the rightful heirs of the “real” China. But Beijing considers Taiwan part of Chinese territory. Criticizing US arms sales and military training to Taiwan, as well as improving Washington-Taipei relations. “Taiwan is an internal matter of China”, reiterated the minister. “Taiwan belongs to China and how to resolve the Taiwan (formerly Taiwan) issue is a matter for the Chinese to decide.” “China’s reunification is an unstoppable trend,” Li insisted. “We will work for peaceful reunification, but we do not promise to renounce the use of force.”