During his visit to Japan last month, former White House strategist Steve Bannon said the US and its East Asian allies must unify to constrain China’s “frightening, audacious and global ambitions.”
Beijing rebuked Bannon’s remarks as “maliciously populist.” However, its aggressive handling of relations with Taiwan, which it insists is a “breakaway province,” as well as its strained ties with Seoul and Tokyo has given substance to the accusations that stocked Bannon’s hour-long speech.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Air Force has pierced through the Taiwanese and Japanese air defense zones, flying past the Miyako Strait as well as the Tsushima Channel between Hokkaido and South Korea multiple times in recent months, and such incursions showed no sign of abating in December.
Chinese warships have also recently resumed patrolling off the Diaoyu Islands, aka Senkaku Islands in the Japanese parlance.
When South Korean President Moon Jae-in visited China two weeks ago, he curried favor with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and talked up the point that the two countries belonged to a “shared community.”
In the meantime, a South Korean photographer was reportedly beaten up by Xi’s security personnel, and less than 72 hours after Moon’s visit that aimed to mark a thaw in bilateral relations, Chinese bombers and spy planes skimmed over South Korea’s air border, as if taking advantage of the “shared airspace.”
In response to China’s apparent militarism, Japan is increasing the capacity of its Self-Defense Forces, only to be criticized by China for reviving Japanese militarism.
While Beijing will refrain from behaving too arbitrarily in its dealings with Tokyo and Seoul, for sure Taipei will find itself at the receiving end of more saber-rattling, leaving military observers and Taiwanese people to wonder if 2018 will be even more eventful than in 2017.
One thing to watch is the fact that some Chinese military brass have supported calls for PLA warplanes to conduct flyovers above Taipei, along with rumors that Xi aims to reclaim the self-ruling island by 2022.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who has been made a scapegoat for the deteriorating cross-Strait ties because of her resistance to the “one China” policy, has been eager to soothe people’s misgivings on several occasions in recent days.
She said during a year-end media reception on Saturday morning that Beijing’s rationality would prevail, that ensuring regional stability was a shared responsibility of all nations concerned and that she didn’t believe war could be an option, no matter what.
But the mainland has obviously raised the volume of its belligerent rhetoric on Taiwan during the past year.
Propaganda and trouble making rubbish!
Obviously no fact checking was done on this article. "Xi’s security personnel" were actually a private security company which was employed by, and followed the instructions of, the South Koreans who had organized the event.
American propaganda to stir up hate and resentment against China.
Fake news and propaganda.
The coward writes this piece doesn’t even have the guts to reveal his real name.
Very good comment.
a petty and distortionist piece of propaganda and looks awfully like the works of any number of john bolton wannabes from india – this asia times and asia unhedged certainly read like an anti-china outlet – especially after its revamping in 2016 and mentally debilitating psychosis set in.
since then china is invariably cast as the villain and bully regardless of what china does, rightly or wrongly – a case of damned you do, damned you dont.
objectivity is obviously not the strength of asia times and its many contributors.
it would be immensely interesting to know that the biog current editor in chinef, one uwe henke von parpart, an expert in "intelligence gathering investigations and analysis activities, including risk analysis reporting.", is also a nato alumni, a larouche dropout, and a protege of indian nationalist leader bal gangadhar tilak, a great man in his time no doubt.
no doubt asia times is reg in hk but having its scribe office in new delhi surely arouse one’s curiousity if it is nothing but an indian propaganda outlet, afterall indian pundits’ pro-washington-anti-china mindset is a well known phenomenon.
Western & US always make propaganda & trouble making all around the world. Stupid people & useless