Analysts and academicians categorically discard Beijing’s conspiracy theories that Washington used the official visit of the three US senators, to allegedly deliver ‘military equipment’ to Tapei. The allegations and media attacks made by China on the growing importance of Taiwan in the US-led Indo-Pacific, suggest that it is a cover-up of the reality of SARS-CoV-2 being developed at Wuhan Institute of Virology
@Kunal_Chonkar
New Delhi: Foreign affairs experts have categorically dismissed Beijing’s groundless theories that Washington used the recent visit of the three US senators to Taipei as a cover-up to deliver important ‘military equipment’ to Taiwan. They also discarded the Chinese media reports insisting that the US intends to ‘merely incite Taiwan independence forces’ through such visits, while continuing to maintain a ‘strategic ambiguity’ on its relations with Taipei and ‘weaponize’ Indo-Pacific allies like Japan against China.
On 6 June, three US senators Tammy Duckworth, Dan Sullivan and Christopher Coons, visited Taipei for around three hours, where they met President Tsai Ing-wen, while also announcing the donation of 750,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses for the island. While in the past, senior officials from Washington flew to Taiwan via unmarked private jet, these three senators traveled on a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III freighter, which not only caught the attention of China but also led to a barrage of allegations from Beijing’s military experts, pen-sharks, and 50 cent army.
Conspiracy Theories
A day after this visit, a Hong Kong-based daily censured the meeting between the US senators and Taiwanese leadership in a report titled ‘US military aircraft arriving in Taiwan in name of vaccine donation is criticized; Exaggerating US senators’ visit is bad in nature, may have other intentions.’
The report, while carefully pointing out that this was the first time a US strategic transport aircraft landed at Taipei Songshan Airport, said that the three US senators who flew in it ‘may have taken a free ride’ to Taiwan. Quoting an unnamed Chinese military officer, the report claimed that the transport aircraft was on its way to Taiwan to either ‘load or unload some equipment.’ It then further insisted that by ‘hyping the vaccine donation drive’ through the official visit, both Taipei and Washington were ‘attempting to cover up a military purpose or operation.’ The report also rejected the fact that the aircraft was only carrying three senators to Taiwan, as the Globemaster is known to transport military equipment. In its concluding paragraphs the report read that the aircraft may have transported other ‘important equipment’ to be ‘left in Taiwan’ or to ‘give to Taiwanese authorities,’ however this development ‘has not been reported by anyone.’
On 8 June, a state-controlled television channel in its discussion on the visit of the three senators not only throated the ‘military equipment’ theory but also accused Washington of pitting its Indo-Pacific allies against China, while it maintained a ‘strategic ambiguity’ on ties with Taiwan. In her remarks at the program, Deputy Director, Department of International and Strategic Studies, China Institute of International Studies Su Xiaohui said that despite the Biden-administration ‘not interested’ in a conflict with Beijing over Taipei, it will continue to play the ‘Taiwan card’ for ‘advancing its presence.’ She marked that the policymakers in Washington do not like being ‘held hostage’ to the ‘Taiwan independence agenda.’ Thus, while the United States continues to ‘sell weapons and military equipment’ to Taiwan, it is ‘weaponizing’ its allies like Japan, Australia, and the European Union to ‘interfere in the Taiwan issue’ and ‘internationalize the developments’ in the region.
On 9 June, at a talk show in a state-funded television channel, Professor Yu Qiang of the University of International Relations said that the visit of the US officials and the announcement of donation was a ‘political show’ to support the Taiwanese leadership as COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the island nation. He claimed that these developments are making the situation even more ‘complicated’ and that any move could act ‘to light the fuse’ that makes the situation go ‘out of control.’ He then downplayed the US donation of vaccines as ‘only an announcement’ and criticized the ‘exaggerated’ show of gratitude shown to Washington announcement, while the President Tsai-led administration continues to refuse vaccination supplies from the mainland. In the same program, Su remarked that Biden wanted Taipei’s ‘cooperation’ in ‘slinging mud on the mainland.’ She even suggested that the Biden administration will use the ‘Taiwan case’ to cohere consensus’ in the domestic politics of the US.
Experts Examine
Speaking to TheNews21, on Beijing’s baseless narratives on the visit by the three US senators, Vice-Chair of Manipal Advance Research Group and Editorial Director of ITV Media Network Madhav Nalapat said “The allegation made by China is part of the cover-up of the reality of SARS-CoV-2 being developed at Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV). A cover-up in which experts from across the world sought to shield the truth in order to shield the WIV.” While responding to the growing US-led diplomatic convergences in the Indo-Pacific against China, Nalapat added “Taiwan under President Tsai has joined with the democracies in the Indo-Pacific and is not any more tethered to Beijing. Japan and the US are acknowledging that shift in word and deed.”
Meanwhile, Professor Ping-Kuei Chen of the Department of Diplomacy at the National Chengchi University in Taiwan directed that the visit of the US senators caught Beijing unaware. “I think Beijing was caught unexpected. As usual, Beijing does not want too much reaction because it knows too much reaction will prompt the US to do more. You can see that Beijing has done nothing more than public denunciation,” Ping-Kuei said while adding that as for whether C-17 aircraft landing in Taiwan is an act of passing ‘red line’ which is set by the editor of Global Times, not central government, not Taiwan Office, not the PLA. The Taiwanese academician insisted that Beijing is reluctant to see the nationalistic sentiment spread in public, showing its credence on this matter.
On the growing bonhomie between Washington and Tokyo over Taipei, Professor Ping-Kuei welcomed the development stating it was to some degree an expected move. “Japan certainly is less concerned about Chinese diplomatic coercion now. I think this is a failure of China’s diplomacy. To be sure, China may retaliate using latent sanctions, but I doubt this will have any effect on the Japanese government. China is quickly running out of its leverage over Japan. This is largely a result of its own diplomatic mistake,” underscored Ping-Kuei.
Echoing with the sentiments of the Taiwanese academician, Associate Professor Dr. Liyaqat Khan of Mumbai University, who specializes in Strategic Studies ridiculed Beijing on its latest side-show. “Chinese diplomacy has been weak to carry out a fact-finding report and create more discussion on the world forums. In transition, they may believe that they have caught the rat, but big rats have a strong strategy to move out,” Dr. Khan said. He cited that Beijing’s recent censuring of Washington was part of China’s attempt to carry out power correction in G-7 and reorient geopolitical calculations.
Dr. Manoj Panigrahi of the Asia-Pacific studies at the National Chengchi University, emphasized that the leadership of the US and Taiwan leaders are smart enough not to conduct any kind of exchange in secret military equipment at such a high-level meeting. “As both sides indulge in open military arms sales, such allegations are very hard to believe. And the Songshan airport where the aircraft landed is in between Taipei city, and an open area. If any such equipment were taken out, it would not have been gone unobserved by the media or intelligence analysts,” said Dr. Panigrahi. While observing Japan mentioning Taiwan as a ‘nation’ to be a new and enterprising development, he claimed that when it comes to military support for Taipei, Tokyo will always look upon Washington’s moves in the region. “The mentioning of Taiwan has angered China. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga had made it clear that Japan will aid Taiwan non-militarily and want peace in the Taiwan strait in a response to a question asked in the Diet (Japanese Parliament). However, Japan would be waiting to see what US first moves will be in case there is an attempt to change the status quo in the cross-strait,” he added.
