US President Joe Biden signed part of a trade agreement with Taiwan earlier this week to deepen economic cooperation with the island. During the month of July, the United States delivered a package of $345 million dollars in military aid that it will send to Taiwan, which only brought new complaints from Beijing that these recent diplomatic and economic maneuvers are a threat to peace and stability in the Strait of Formosa.
Biden announced his signing of the first agreement within the so-called 21st Century United States-Taiwan Initiative, which despite not being a free trade agreement. This document was described by the Taiwanese as the most comprehensive trade pact since Washington established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 1979 under the principle of recognizing one China..
Washington made commitments to defend its close allies in the region.Credit: Mandy Cheng | AFP / Getty Images
Even so, the agreement signed by Biden is limited, since it covers issues such as customs forms, regulatory practices and anti-corruption measures, but does not address tariffs on certain goods or Taiwanese complaints about double taxation in the United States. “The objective of this agreement is to strengthen and develop economic relations between the United States and Taiwan,” the White House said in a statement.
Chinese rejection
The United States government reported in July that for the first time they would financially help the Taiwanese army, which was in the middle of military maneuvers after a series of exercises carried out by China and Russia in the Sea of Japan, which only increases the heat in Asian and Western tensions. Now the ties between both nations are tightening.
Therefore, the Chinese spokesman added that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is paying close attention to the situation in the Taiwan Strait and keeps its vigilance at a high level. “Some people in the United States continue to incite Taiwan independence together with separatist forces to provoke and escalate confrontation and tension in the Taiwan Strait.“, he said in the statement.
The Chinese government is increasing its spending on the military.Credit: EFE
China presented another formal complaint to the White House that it sold a shipment of arms to the authorities of Taiwan, which for just over a year the three nations have been in constant tension. For Beijing, this trade decision increases diplomatic friction with Washington over Taipei and other reasons.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said his country is completely opposed to the US selling weapons to Taiwan, as it violates and interferes in its internal affairs and deliberately escalates tensions in the region. “The United States must stop following the dangerous path it has taken. Either the United States using Taiwan to control China“, he said in a statement.
With EFE information
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2023-08-08 16:09:03
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