Residents in Northern Taiwan scurried indoors as the melancholy sound of air-raid sirens broke out around 1:30 pm yesterday. People and automobiles were quickly removed from the streets.
In Taipei, stores and restaurants closed their doors, and police diverted vehicles to the side of the road, ordering drivers and passengers to take cover.
Taiwan Conducts Military Drills Amid China Tension
The screech of fighter aircraft trying to repel the enemy filled the sky, as a a'missile warning' text message was issued to hundreds of millions of mobile phones, demanding rapid evacuation to a safe location. It was terrifying, but the nightmarish scenario that occurred was a required full-scale rehearsal to prepare for the day - which, according to some, is growing closer by the hour - when Taiwan is subjected to a surprise invasion from mainland China.
With the world's attention focused on the horrible war in Ukraine, we must not overlook the catastrophe smoldering 5,000 kilometers away at the other end of Eurasia. They are also not unrelated. Russia's Vladimir Putin and China's Xi Jinping both despise the rights of their weaker neighbors, and Taiwan has long felt the Chinese dragon's breath on its throat.
Since the Communists took control in mainland China in 1949, they have had their sights set on this brave small country. It is technically a province of the Republic of China, although it has been an autonomous democracy for more than 30 years. Just as Putin did not approve of a democratic Ukraine on Russia's border, a Chinese-speaking democracy only 100 miles away is unacceptable to China's all-powerful ruler, Xi Jinping.
With China's airforce and navy becoming active around and above Taiwan, the indications are that he is planning an invasion of this little but strategically crucial island of 29 million people (compared with 1.4 billion in China), Daily Mail reported.
US Increasingly Concerned on China's Action Against Taiwan
The Biden administration has grown increasingly concerned about China's statements and actions toward Taiwan this summer, with some officials fearing that Chinese leaders will try to move against the self-governing island over the next year and a half, possibly by cutting off access to all or part of the Taiwan Strait, through which US naval ships regularly pass.
Internal concerns have grown in recent days as the administration quietly seeks to dissuade House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from going forward with a planned trip to Taiwan next month, according to US sources. Pelosi, a Democrat from California, would be the first speaker to visit Taiwan since 1997, and the Chinese government has publicly criticized and threatened reprisal for her alleged plans.
US sources perceive a heightened danger of confrontation and miscalculation in Pelosi's trip as Chinese President Xi Jinping and senior Communist Party leaders prepare for an important political summit in the coming weeks, at which Xi Jinping is anticipated to prolong his power.
Contrary to the opinions of the United States and other countries, Chinese authorities have maintained this summer that no area of the Taiwan Strait can be designated international waters. In June, a spokeswoman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated, "China has sovereignty, sovereign rights, and control over the Taiwan Strait."
Chinese policymakers are aware that officials in the Biden administration are using lessons gained from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and are attempting to mold their arms shipments to Taiwan to transform the democratic island into what some refer to as a porcupine, brimming with sufficiently powerful weaponry and defensive systems to prevent Chinese authorities from attacking it.
Meanwhile, Republican members of Congress have urged Pelosi to proceed with the visit, claiming that delaying would be a sign of weakness. According to Focus Taiwan, Republican Representative Tom Tiffany of Wisconsin and Congressman Scott Perry of Pennsylvania wrote to Pelosi urging she should ignore the concerns of China's authorities and President Biden.
Republican Representative Mike Gallagher of Wisconsin stated on Monday that China is already attempting to weaken the US resolve to safeguard Taiwan. Federal law requires greater cooperation between Taiwanese and US leaders, as per New York Times.
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