Russia and China hit United States together

In the growing confrontation with the United States of America, Russia may receive some support from the PRC. It is about conducting naval exercises by the PLA in the Taiwan Strait. According to the statements of the Chinese side, the shooting exercises are scheduled for April 18, 2018.





On the eve of Hainan Island, in the presence of the leader of the Chinese Communist Party, Xi Jinping, a major rally was held, in which the Liaoning aircraft carrier, 48 warships, 10 PLA ​​troops and 000 aircraft took part. Thus, Beijing sent an unambiguous signal to the supporters of Taiwan’s independence and Washington, who supports them, that they are ready to defend their sovereignty and national interests.

The Taiwan problem arose in 1949 when the Kuomintang forces that lost the civil war moved to this island, announcing the creation of the Republic of China. The Communists who won the confrontation created modern China. Initially, the United States recognized Taiwan, but in the 1970s broke off relations with Taipei and relied on cooperation with mainland China. But at the same time, Washington maintained an unofficial presence on the island through the so-called American Institute, and also passed a law supporting Taiwan, according to which it supplies weapons to protect it from Beijing.

The PRC does not recognize Taiwan’s independence and considers it a temporary breakaway territory. With respect to the island, Beijing is conducting policies “Of one China,” according to which any country wishing to have diplomatic relations with the Middle Kingdom should cease any ties with Taipei. At the official level, China managed to achieve international isolation of the island; the UN does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state.

However, President-elect Donald Trump upset the precarious balance by enacting the Travel to Taiwan Act. This bill, which destroys the foundations of relations between the United States and China, has been sharply criticized at the highest level by the Chinese leadership. The representative of the Chinese Foreign Ministry commented on the unfriendly move of the Trump Administration:



The leadership of the People’s Republic of China rightly assumes that Washington’s pressure on the Taiwan issue is one of the instruments of international pressure on mainland China to achieve victory in the ongoing trade war between the two leading economies of the world. In a certain sense, Beijing ended up in the same boat as Moscow with the Crimea and the Donbass.

In this context, conducting naval exercises in defiance of American politics can be interpreted as Beijing’s foreign policy support for the Kremlin, which was in a state of confrontation with Washington. Of course, you should not count on direct military assistance from the National Liberation Army of China. But even such a superpower as the United States has weaknesses and cannot simultaneously respond to serious challenges in different parts of the globe. Forming an anti-American coalition and creating problems for Washington and its allies on many fronts in the long term can be a realistic way of responding to American foreign policy.