Beijing’s aggression toward Taiwan is a part of a broader strategy to create a “new normal,” according to a senior U.S. defense official.
China has gotten more aggressive in making statements militarily toward the island nation of roughly 24 million people in recent years, though tensions between the two countries reached a new height in recent weeks as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) traveled to Taiwan despite repeated Chinese condemnation.
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl referenced the frequency with which China’s military is crossing into Taiwanese territory by water and air as the major components of China’s show of military force.
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“Clearly, what they’re trying to do is salami slice their way into a new status quo,” he said. “I think a lot has been made of them — of the missile strikes, but really, it’s the activities in the Strait itself — the sheer number of maritime and air assets that are crossing over this kind of de facto center line, creeping closer to Taiwan’s shores, where it’s clear that Beijing is trying to create a kind of new normal, with the goal of trying to coerce Taiwan but also frankly to coerce the international community, given the importance of the Taiwan Strait to the global economy.”
Despite the “new normal” Kahl described, he also reaffirmed the Biden administration’s position that Beijing will not invade Taiwan within the next two years.
More than 150 Chinese aircraft and 50 vessels were dispatched for activities around the Taiwan Strait since Aug. 5, according to Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense. Many of them crossed the median line in the Strait separating Taiwan’s territorial claims from China’s.
The administration maintains that Pelosi’s visit didn’t change U.S. policy toward China or Taiwan and that Beijing is needlessly escalating tension, in part because members of Congress frequently travel to Taiwan, including a couple delegations that have made the trip earlier this year.
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Last week, the administration summoned the Chinese ambassador to condemn China’s escalatory actions.
“After China’s actions overnight, we summoned [People’s Republic of China] Ambassador Qin Gang to the White House to demarche him about the PRC’s provocative actions,” National Security Council coordinator John Kirby said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “We condemned the PRC’s military actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our long-standing goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
The Chinese government also announced after the speaker’s visit that it would be enacting eight different measures in response to Pelosi’s visit, which includes suspending conversations between senior-level military commanders on cross-border crime, drug trafficking, and climate change.
