By Zhong Sheng, People’s Daily
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi’s visit to China’s Taiwan region has escalated tensions in the Taiwan Strait, triggering wide concerns and criticism from regional countries and the international society.
Confronted with the wrongful remarks and actions of the U.S., China has made justifiable and reasonable countermeasures that are necessary to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity and will effectively maintain regional peace and stability.
As the third highest-ranking figure in the U.S. government, Pelosi turned a blind eye to China’s strong opposition and solemn representations, ignored the wide concerns from regional countries and the international society, and insisted on visiting Taiwan to make a crisis.
It’s clear enough that what’s done by the U.S. House Speaker was allowed and supported by the White House. However, the U.S. side, rather than restraining itself after Pelosi’s visit, continued its wrong practices and blamed the innocent, claiming China’s countermeasures escalated tensions in the Taiwan Strait and had severe impacts on regional peace and stability.
To distort facts, the U.S. even said China’s actions were “at odds” with Washington’s “longstanding goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the region.”
Such remarks just revealed to the world more essence of the American hegemony and arrogance, and made more people in the world understand the necessity of China’s resolute countermeasures.
Regional countries and the international society believe that the recent actions of the U.S. have violated China’s sovereignty, breached U.S. commitments and escalated tensions in the Taiwan Strait. They support China to safeguard its legitimate rights and interests and make firm responses to the provocative actions from Washington.
The U.S. has enhanced its efforts to oppress China over the recent years, in an attempt to contain China’s development with the Taiwan question.
Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party authorities, who forget their heritage and cling to U.S. support to seek “independence,” as well as some anti-China forces in the U.S. that wish to hinder the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and contain China’s development with the Taiwan question, are the root cause of the current tensions in the Taiwan Strait.
In total disregard of international consensuses, Pelosi said the U.S. will “not allow” China to isolate Taiwan and even called Taiwan a “country,” which bolstered the forces of “Taiwan independence.”
After her visit, some “Taiwan independence” diehards hyped that Taiwan was a so-called “sovereign country,” and the U.S., rather than opposing such practice, even encouraged it both overtly and covertly.
The wrongful practice of the U.S. severely challenges the international order and gravely threatens peace in the Taiwan Strait and regional stability. Had China not taken resolute countermeasures against U.S. provocation and “Taiwan independence” forces, the hard-won regional peace and stability would have been further damaged.
The U.S. is the one that provoked troubles first, but it is “condemning” China’s military drills to whitewash itself, which once again revealed the deep-rooted extortionist logic of the U.S.
The U.S. launches over 100 military drills on the seawaters surrounding China each year and often sends aircrafts and warships there for muscle-showing and provocations, which seriously threatens regional peace and stability.
For a long time, the U.S. has been running against the principles of the UN Charter and the basic norms governing international relations, launching and instigating conflicts everywhere. The country has created huge turbulence and humanitarian disasters for the world.
Among the 248 armed conflicts that happened around the world between the end of the World War II and 2001, 201 were initiated by the U.S.
Since 2001, the U.S. has initiated and been involved in wars and military actions that killed over 800,000 people and displaced tens of millions.
The U.S. is the one that should be condemned.
It’s so vicious of the U.S. to associate the tensions in the Taiwan Strait with the Ukraine crisis. The Taiwan question and the Ukraine issue are completely different in nature. Taiwan is a part of China, and the Taiwan question is China’s domestic affair. However, the U.S., playing dumb, is trying to make the Taiwan question an international issue. Its true intention is to disorder the Taiwan Strait and the Asia-Pacific region.
However, of course there’s something in common in the Taiwan question and the Ukraine issue. They were both initiated by the U.S.
A foreign political leader noted that the U.S. creates crises, lives off of crises and feeds on various crises in the world. The Ukraine crisis was a result of U.S. instigation. Instead of drawing lessons from it, the U.S. is once again creating a crisis in the Taiwan Strait. It is the U.S. that’s destroying world peace.
The pursuit of peace and development is a common aspiration of all regional countries. The U.S. should respect the aspiration and abandon its scheme of containing China with the Taiwan question as soon as possible. It should get back to the right track of the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. joint communiques, and showcase its sense of responsibility as a major country.
Meanwhile, regional countries must stay alert to the U.S. instigation and expansion of military presence, as well as its attempt to make a bigger crisis.
(Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People’s Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs.)
