The Chinese military “will heavily attack U.S. troops who come to Taiwan’s rescue” if China invades Taiwan, a conflict that has appeared more likely in recent days as the communist regime has flexed its muscles on Taiwan’s borders.
The latest threat against the United States in the event of a China-Taiwan conflict came Thursday in the Global Times, an official mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
“It is credible that the [People’s Liberation Army] will heavily attack U.S. troops who come to Taiwan’s rescue,” the paper wrote. “Such credibility is increasingly overwhelming the deterrence that U.S. troops may have.”
The warning from Beijing came following remarks by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, who said the United States is prepared to counter an attempt by China to forcefully take over Taiwan. The China-Taiwan question also comes while the Biden White House grapples with the possibility of Vladimir Putin’s Russia invading Ukraine.
China has been threatening to invade Taiwan since Biden entered office, prompting America to strengthen the island’s defenses and warn the CCP against escalation. The Thursday editorial at Global Times constitutes one of the first instances in recent memory that China has threatened to attack American troops who come to Taiwan’s help.
“If Washington supports the Taiwan authority’s path of seeking secession and encourages the Taiwan authority to rely on it, then reunification by force will definitely happen. The more the U.S. and the island of Taiwan collude, the sooner reunification by force will come,” the Chinese propaganda outlet declared.
Sullivan told reporters on Tuesday that he is out to ensure a forceful Chinese takeover of Taiwan “never happens.”
Global Times responded directly to the American national security advisor,
“Mr. Sullivan, please be advised to sort out your mind carefully and think about what bargaining chips you do have in your hands to intimidate the Chinese mainland which is determined to achieve national reunification and has various strategic tools to resist blackmail,” the paper wrote. “You will find your hands empty. Therefore, don’t have a big mouth, Mr. Sullivan, otherwise you will only create more embarrassment for your country.”
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China, retreated to the island in 1949, upon being defeated by the revolutionary communist forces of Mao Tse-tung.
Last month, a delegation of five members of the U.S. House of Representatives met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in a one-day surprise visit aimed at demonstrating America’s “rock-solid” solidarity with Taiwan.
Simultaneous to the visit, China conducted “combat readiness” drills in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from China.
China has been gaining support for the eventuality of a Taiwan invasion. This week, Nicaragua severed its diplomatic ties with Taiwan and instead recognized China.
Nicaragua’s authoritarian president, Daniel Ortega is a Marxist-Leninist who switched diplomatic ties from Taipei to Beijing when he first came to power in 1979. After he was defeated by Violeta Chamorro in the 1990 presidential election, the country sided anew with Taiwan.
Ortega returned to power in 2006. His decision, after a decade and a half leading Nicaragua, to restore diplomatic recognition of Communist China, was not surprising, though it was timely given the current circumstances.
Part of Ortega’s calculations may be the favorable trade and development assistance China is willing to offer counties that side with them over Taiwan. Ortega has found his list of international allies short due to his notoriety as a corrupt strongman guilty of human rights abuses — abuses China is willing to overlook.
Panama and Costa Rica have also sided with Beijing in recent years. And Honduras’ newly-elected leader, Xiomara Castro, appears poised to follow Nicaragua’s lead in cutting ties with Taiwan.
Prior to her election victory, Castro, who is set to take office in January, pledged to “open diplomatic and commercial connections with mainland China,” even though the country has maintained diplomatic ties with Tapei for eight decades.
With Nicaragua out, Taiwan now has just 14 diplomatic allies left. Although the island nation has a strong unofficial relationship with the United States, the loss of one more ally feeds fears that Taiwan is losing the battle, giving Communist China’s goal of annexing the island an air of inevitability.
