Tag: Taiwan

China is putting more military and political pressure on Taiwan and its new president, whose rhetoric has been sharper than his predecessor’s.

Raymond Greene, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, promised to help Taiwan’s defend itself. China then flew 66 warplanes near the island in an apparent show of force.

They aim to immerse Taiwanese high-schoolers and university students in Chinese culture and to foster their sense of Chinese nationalism. Before 2020 several thousand Taiwanese students went to China each summer for internships and exchanges.

The latest incursions across a U.S.-drawn median in the strait, a line Beijing has never recognized, come as Taiwan’s new President considers travel to the U.S.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and threatens to subjugate it with military force if Taipei refuses to submit to Beijing’s control indefinitely. Chinese leader Xi Jinping has in recent years replaced his predecessor’s more patient approach with a campaign of political, economic and military pressure aimed at coercing Taiwan.

The purge of the defense ministers is almost certainly a sign that Xi is increasing his control over the officer corps. It’s not hard to figure out what comes next.

Beijing condemns Taiwan’s Lai as a “separatist” and staged war games shortly after his May inauguration. Taiwan has complained of ramped up Chinese pressure since Lai won the election in January, …