Young Xia, Chaoyang： The United States can stop playing the ＂Taiwan Province card＂ that must be lost.

　　"Public opinion cannot be violated, and playing with fire will set you on fire." On July 28th, during the first US dollar conversation, China expressed hit the floor’s position on the Taiwan Province issue. This is for President Biden of the United States, and even more for Speaker Pelosi of the House of Representatives of the United States.

▲ Playing the "Taiwan Province card" to contain and contain China is a long-standing practice in the United States. (Comic | Liu Rui)

　　At present, Pelosi’s "channeling Taiwan" plan is still fermenting. Four months ago, Pelosi made a test, which ended in "tactical positive". Pelosi’s new visit plan is another example of the US’s promise of "four noes and no intentions" and another card in the US "Taiwan to China" deck. Let’s take a look at what "cards" the United States has for "making China".

　　I. Political and diplomatic cards

　　The "political card" is a common trick of the United States, which blurs the identity of Taiwan Province as a region of China and tries to create the illusion that "Taiwan Province is a sovereign country".

　　There are many ways to play "political cards", among which "playing straight", "playing pair" and "cheating" are all common card tricks used by the United States to provoke pressure and gossip.

　　"Shunzi": sending US officials or former politicians of different levels to visit Taiwan Province to show their so-called "firm support" for Taiwan. If you don’t achieve the expected provocative effect, you will continue to add big cards to the straight. This year alone, former US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen, former Defense Minister Esper, and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi have visited or planned to visit, and some American politicians have been frantically exploring on the edge of a China principle high-voltage line.

　　"Pairing up": Pulling in allies in an attempt to pull Taiwan Province into international organizations or conferences that only sovereign countries can participate in. Not long ago, the United States once again picked on the topic of "Taiwan Province’s participation in the World Health Assembly" and "strongly advocated" that WHO invite Taiwan Province to participate in the 75th World Health Assembly as an observer under the guise of sharing global anti-epidemic information. Together with some western countries, echo each other encouraged the "Taiwan independence" forces to be arrogant. This is an unbridled provocation to UN General Assembly resolution 2758 and the One-China principle, and what "multilateralism" the United States adheres to is obvious.

　　"Cheating": secretly poke and modify the Taiwan-related statements on official documents. Recently, the State Council suddenly adjusted two core expressions of its relations between official website and Taiwan:

▲ In June, 2022, Esper, the former US Secretary of Defense, said in an interview that the United States needed to re-examine the one-China policy.

　　First, the key statement that "the United States does not support Taiwan independence" was once deleted, and then it was restored under pressure.

　　The second is to change diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in the 1979 US-China Joint Communique. The United States recognizes that the government of People’s Republic of China (PRC) is the sole legal government of China, and China’s position that there is only one China and Taiwan Province is a part of China "has been changed to the so-called" Three Joint Communiqués, ‘ Taiwan Relations Act ’ And involving US arms sales to Taiwan ‘ Six guarantees ’ And jointly guide the United States on how to adhere to the one-China policy.

　　A big country should have kept its promise, but now it has gone back on its word, and the US government has repeatedly overdrawn its credibility of "insufficient balance", which the international community has seen. "Taiwan independence" elements can, in turn, weigh whether the American promise they rely on is reliable.

　　Second, the military force card

　　The "military card" is a big name that the United States often shows up to scare people but dare not directly play it. It is mainly to piece together military alliances, export military strength and engage in military confrontation.

　　In recent years, the United States has stepped up the implementation of the "Indo-Pacific Strategy", and its military exports to Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and other places have never stopped, discharging various positions in the region in an attempt to build a "military encirclement circle" against China. At the same time, the United States makes use of Taiwan Province’s unique geographical position to make it a "strategic outpost" in order to keep the pressure on China.

▲ A promo released by the US Army’s First Special Operations Group in February 2019 shows that US special forces are training with Taiwan troops in Taiwan Province.

　　The United States keeps saying that it doesn’t support Taiwan independence, but actually helps Taiwan Province formulate its so-called "military strategy", trains its military forces in actual combat, acquiesces in and even unites with the "Taiwan independence" forces to fight against China. It is not enough to build a disposable "barracks" for training soldiers. The United States also personally left the scene and frequently sent warships and fighter planes to the Taiwan Province Strait for provocation.

　　Recently, U.S. reconnaissance planes approached the Taiwan Province Strait several times, and the guided missile destroyer "Bendford" even carried out provocative acts three times in a week in sensitive sea areas such as the Taiwan Province Strait.

　　The United States not only shows its muscles under the banner of so-called "freedom of navigation", but also bites back after muddling the water, smearing China’s legitimate response as "coercion by force" in the region, packaging itself as a "just messenger" to maintain regional peace and continuing to make waves, and then beautifying the US security threat to the region as a so-called "stability help" with the cooperation of "Taiwan independence" elements.

　　"Making a fortune" through arms sales is another major specialty of the United States. In order to find an excuse for arms sales to Taiwan, the United States often paves the way by throwing a "legal card" first, that is, invoking the so-called "Taiwan Relations Act", an American domestic law.

▲ In March, 2020, the Taiwan military drove the M-60A3 TTS main battle tank purchased from the United States and carried out tactical movement on the streets of Yilan City.

　　Since the 1980s, the United States should have abided by the spirit of Three Joint Communiqués, especially the August 17th Communiqué, and gradually reduced its arms sales to Taiwan Province until it stopped completely. However, it has not yet been fulfilled. Some politicians and arms dealers in the United States collude with each other and constantly submit various fancy Taiwan-related bills to Congress, thus making a lot of money.

　　In June 2022, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate, Democratic Congressman Menendez and Republican Congressman Graham jointly proposed the "Taiwan Province Policy Act of 2022", which included upgrading the so-called "military relations" between the two sides, listing Taiwan Province as a "major non-NATO ally" and providing Taiwan with $4.5 billion in military financing support in the next four years.

　　Not long ago, the State Council of the United States approved to provide a total of $108 million in military technical assistance to the Taipei Cultural Relics Office in the United States. On the surface, the United States, which plays the role of "philanthropist", regards Taiwan Province as a "pawn" to contain China from the bottom of its heart, and at the same time, it also makes a big profit from it to satisfy its strategic wealth win-win ambition.

　　Third, the scientific and technological innovation card

　　"Science and technology card" is a common routine for the United States to maintain its hegemonic position, mainly through direct intervention, technology blockade, export control, patchwork of "small circles" and other means to suppress strategic competitors and consolidate its own scientific and technological advantages.

　　During the Cold War, the United States imposed an embargo on socialist countries headed by the Soviet Union through the Export Control Law, and in the 1980s, it suppressed related industries in Japan through the US-Japan Semiconductor Agreement. The "black history" of this card is everywhere.

　　In recent years, in the name of "national security", the United States has wooed its allies to cut off supply and blacklist, and built a "small courtyard and high wall" in an attempt to increase the blockade of China in the core scientific and technological fields and realize "de-China" in key supply chains and industrial chains. Taiwan Province’s advantages in the semiconductor industry make it a "key wall brick" that the United States must firmly hold and never let China go.

　　During the Trump administration, the United States repeatedly asked TSMC to set up factories in the United States and prohibited TSMC from providing chips to Huawei. Last year, the "American Association in Taiwan" said that "the United States and Taiwan Province are the most natural partners in the global semiconductor supply chain", and promoted the deepening of interest bundling between the two sides with rhetoric.

▲ The United States launched the "Four-Party Alliance of Chips" and invited semiconductor companies from South Korea, Japan and Taiwan Province Province of China to join in an attempt to erect a "semiconductor barrier" against Chinese mainland. The picture shows that during Biden’s visit to South Korea in May 2022, accompanied by South Korean President Yin Xiyue, he visited Samsung Electronics Semiconductor Factory.

　　In April, 2022, the United States raised the issue of establishing Chip 4 with Taiwan Province, South Korea and Japan. Last month, the "American Association in Taiwan" announced that Taiwan Province Universal Wafers would invest and set up a factory in Texas. Recently, the US Senate and House of Representatives passed the "Chip Plus" bill involving 280 billion US dollars, attracting more companies including Taiwan Province semiconductor companies to set up factories in the United States.

　　The United States frequently woos Taiwan Province in the field of semiconductors in order to gain greater initiative in technology blockade and export control to China, prevent China from gaining a dominant position in the strategic field, and strengthen its control over the global chip industry chain.

　　According to the magazine Diplomatic Scholar and the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Chip 4 highlights security and political considerations and runs counter to economic laws, which will further disrupt the global value chain, leading to rising costs and declining competitiveness of the semiconductor industry.

　　Fourth, the public opinion card

　　The "public opinion card" is the usual routine of the United States to engage in political manipulation and the party’s opposition to differences. It mainly relies on fabricating lies, plotting and manipulating public opinion to trouble other countries. At present, this set of public opinion cards in the United States attempts to put on the mainland and Taiwan Province a narrative cloak of "democracy against authoritarianism", pretending to be unjust in the name of morality.

　　One is to discredit China. Based on the so-called "universal values", the United States hyped up and branded China as "authoritarianism" and "America’s number one security threat". Last year, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Senate passed the "Strategic Competition Act of 2021", proposing to spend 300 million US dollars every year to spread negative information to discredit China. At the same time, it exaggerates the mainland’s "threat of force" to incite panic on the island and hold Taiwan Province’s public opinion, so as to distort and enlarge the differences in social systems between the two sides of the strait into ideological differences among the people.

　　The second is to flatter Taiwan Province. American officials at all levels have repeatedly flaunted Taiwan Province’s "democratic achievements", portrayed Taiwan Province as an "excellent student of democracy" and invited Taiwan Province to attend the so-called "democracy summit". On the one hand, it provides "support" for the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to consolidate the ideological foundation of "relying on the United States for independence" and transform the political identity and value system of Taiwan Province society; on the other hand, it expands Taiwan Province’s "international living space" in the name of "democracy" in an attempt to trigger "empathy" and "solidarity" in the western world.

▲ When answering questions in the House of Representatives in September, 2021, US Secretary of State blinken compared Ukraine and Taiwan Province, falsely claiming that the United States would fulfill its promise to Taiwan Province under the Taiwan Relations Act and also to Ukraine.

　　Third, make use of other hot issues to write articles on Taiwan Province indirectly. Acquilino, commander of the US Indo-Pacific Command, declared in an interview that "the Ukrainian issue highlights the serious threat posed by China to Taiwan Province". There are essential differences between the Taiwan Province issue and the Ukrainian crisis. Comparing the two issues and advocating that "Ukraine today is tomorrow’s Taiwan Province" is totally a conspiracy and a blatant challenge to China’s bottom line.

　　After Hong Kong’s "storm of amending laws", Mo Jian, chairman of the American Association in Taiwan, falsely claimed that China’s "one country, two systems" action in Hong Kong clearly showed that it not only sought reunification with Taiwan Province, but also undermined Taiwan’s democracy. The United States deliberately misinterprets "one country, two systems", provokes cross-strait relations under the banner of democracy, and creates difficulties for the peaceful reunification of the two sides.

▲ The Taiwan Province issue is the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-US relations. It is very dangerous for the United States to keep playing the "Taiwan Province" card, and it is "playing with fire". (Comic | Liu Rui)

　　Political and diplomatic cards, military force cards, scientific and technological innovation cards, and public opinion cards seem to be interlocking. The United States seems determined to win the "chip" of Taiwan Province. However, the Taiwan Province issue is just a game and a card game for the United States, and it is related to national rejuvenation and the righteousness of the country for China, and there is absolutely no room for bargaining.

　　In the face of justice, the game of playing with fire in the United States can only be attributed to a dream.