US provocations using Taiwan must stop

On the heels of the Pentagon releasing its annual report on the "military and security developments involving" China, the US has made another provocative move against Beijing by sending a delegation of Congress members to Taiwan, which landed on the island in a military plane on Tuesday.

Beijing has strongly condemned the US congressional delegation's visit to the island. Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and the US side's action seriously violates China's sovereignty and threatens peace and stability in the Taiwan Straits.

Beijing has asked Washington to immediately stop its provocative actions that are escalating tensions in the Straits, and refrain from encouraging separatist forces in Taiwan, and warned the ruling Democratic Progressive Party on the island to not misjudge the situation and take risks which could lead to disaster for Taiwan.

China must and will be reunified. And no one should underestimate the determination, will and capability of the Chinese people and the People's Liberation Army to safeguard the country's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

As for the Pentagon's 192-page report, which was issued last week, it describes China's efforts to boost its regional defense capability as an attempt to extend its military reach to the Indo-Pacific region and even beyond. As usual, it highlights what it calls China's rapidly rising military capability, including fast expansion of its nuclear arsenal. What's new in the report is the inclusion of China's alleged chemical and biological warfare capability.

It's a cliché for the US to play up the "China threat" theory, no matter how much truth or false information there is in their so-called report.

However, there is nothing wrong in China bolstering its military capability to better safeguard national security, as it is necessary for the most populous country to fulfill the national reunification mission and maintain peace and tranquility along its long border.

The US should reflect on its strategy of trying to block China's national reunification. Even after Beijing and Washington established formal diplomatic relations in 1979, the US has continued to challenge China's legitimate rights to deal with its internal affairs — the Taiwan question being one — on its own terms.

The Pentagon's report suggests China's increasing military power poses a threat to other countries. Which is strange, because using the same logic, the US can be accused of posing a serious threat to the rest of the world given its military might. When Barack Obama completed his tenure as US president in January 2017, the US military budget stood at $500 billion. But this year the budget has increased to $780 billion, about four times that of China.

To some extent, the Pentagon's argument makes sense: the more money you spend on the military, the greater threat you pose to others, which applies perfectly to the US. Thanks to its massive military resources, the US was able to wage war in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2021, and has been doing the same in Iraq since 2003 (the US still has some troops in Iraq). Not to mention the US military's involvement in Libya and Syria.

Unlike the US, China has not fought any big wars for more than four decades, and in the meanwhile settled its territorial disputes with Russia and Central Asian neighbors. Also, China has agreed a deal with Vietnam on fishing cooperation in Beibu Gulf, and with Japan on an air and sea emergency liaison mechanism in the East China Sea.

And it is working with ASEAN members toward the goal of finalizing the Code of Conduct for the South China Sea, which would allow them to handle their disputes through peaceful means in the future.

There is a purpose behind the strengthening of China's defense capability — to deter aggression and better safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China is well established. And yet the US has been playing the "Taiwan card" to check and balance China since the founding of new China in 1949.

Since Beijing's legitimate seat in the United Nations was restored in 1971 and the US established diplomatic ties with it in 1979, the US should keep the promises it made in the Three Joint Communiqués. It's high time for the US to stop interfering in China's internal affairs including the Taiwan question.

As former US president Dwight Eisenhower said, peace has to be maintained with force.

Despite the US provocations, over the years, distorting China's real defense capability from time to time, China will keep strengthening its defense capability to safeguard its territorial integrity and defend regional peace.

The author is professor and former executive dean of Institute of International Studies, Fudan University.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

If you have a specific expertise, or would like to share your thought about our stories, then send us your writings at opinion@chinadaily.com.cn, and comment@chinadaily.com.cn.