The US is playing with fire again at year-end as US President Biden signed into law the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2023(FY2023NDAA) on December 24, Beijing time, which includes tons of untrue content smearing and attacking China and sends a seriously wrong signal to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces.
As a domestic law, the FY2023NDAA should have been focused on America's domestic affairs, yet Washington has set it above international law to hype up the "China threat" regardless of facts and blatantly interfered in China's internal affairs. In particular, the document is pointing fingers at the Taiwan question, claiming it will provide US$10 billion of military assistance and US$2 billion military loans to the region in the next five years, and demanding accelerated arms sales to the island. This is equivalent to handing weapons to the "Taiwan independence" separatist forces, and stirring confrontation and pouring fuel on the flames across the Taiwan Straits, which is full proof that the US is the saboteur of peace and stability and the culprit of security risks in the region.
The Shanghai Communiqué of 1972, the China-US Joint Communiqué on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations of 1978, and the August 17 Communiqué of 1982 all stated clearly that there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and that the government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China. The August 17 Communiqué of 1982 set definite and unequivocal terms on America’s arms sales to the Taiwan region: the United States Government states that it does not seek to carry out a long-term policy of arms sales to Taiwan, that its arms sales to Taiwan will not exceed, either in qualitative or in quantitative terms, the level of those supplied in recent years since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States, and that it intends gradually to reduce its sale of arms to Taiwan, leading, over a period of time, to a final resolution. However, the US has not abided by this agreement but has gone the opposite way.
Half a month ago, the Biden administration announced its 7th round of arms sales to Taiwan island since it came into power two years ago, and the FY2023NDAA also vowed to increase military assistance to the island, both of which seriously violate the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués and grossly breach America’s political commitment to the Chinese side. They have laid bare how eager and impatient certain American forces are to fish in troubled waters by stirring up trouble in the Taiwan Straits, emboldening the island and containing China. People in Taiwan pointed out the fact that America selling arms to Taiwan is by no means to protect the island’s interests, but to use it as a milch cow and a chess piece, which will push the islanders into great misery.
At the same time, the US has made no secret of its duplicity on the Taiwan question – asking for dialogue on the one hand and practicing containment on the other; blabbering about cooperation while stabbing China in the back. During the meeting between Chinese and American presidents in Bali last month, the Chinese side reiterated that the Taiwan question is at the very core of its core interests, the bedrock of China-US political relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations. In response, Biden reaffirmed that the US does not seek a new Cold War with China; it does not aim to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances is not targeted at China; the US does not support "Taiwan independence"; and it has no intention to seek a conflict with China. He even added that the American side doesn’t support "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan", and has no intention to "decouple" from China or obstruct its economic growth or curb its development.
These words are still lingering by the ear, but the US has already gone back on them and taken the opposite path, casting political credibility into the wind. Saying one thing and doing another isn’t something we expect from a major country. The top priority for China and the US now is to translate what’s agreed between the two heads of state in Bali into practical policies and concrete actions, so as to pave the way for steadying and developing bilateral relations in the time to come.
Taiwan is an inalienable part of China. Resolving the Taiwan question is a matter for the Chinese people and brooks no external interference. On December 25, the PLA Eastern Theater Command conducted the joint combat-readiness security patrol and joint firepower striking exercise involving troops of multiple services and arms in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island as a resolute response to the escalated collusion between and provocation by the US and the island. The American side should not act on the China-related articles in its latest act, nor should it slide further down the wrong and dangerous path. Instead, it must come back to truly respect the one-China principle and the three China-US joint communiqués, otherwise, its outrageous moves will only backfire sooner.
Editor's note: Originally published on news.cri.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
