Amid growing concerns over the possible outbreak of a nuclear arms race, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urges nuclear states to uphold their commitment to not use their nuclear arsenals first.
“This is the moment…to ask the nuclear-armed countries to commit to the principle of non-first-use and to commit to not use and not threaten the non-nuclear countries,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at a news conference in Tokyo.
Though the US seems less interested in a wide-scale war, it is still ramping up it is provocations against Russia and China.
Do Not Test China’s Red Lines
While the world is grappling with soaring prices, Washington is not learning from it is mistakes in Ukraine. While international media outlets have been focusing lately on Biden’s tour in the Middle East and it is implications on the security dynamics, the Indo-Pacific is witnessing unprecedented challenges. Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan will have undesired consequences, not only on the Asian region but the entire world as well.
Though Americans routinely visit Taipei, Pelosi’s visit is different. A visit from members of the American congress is different from a visit that comes from what China perceives as the representative of President Biden. Though we have doubts that China will invade Taiwan, Washington’s provocations are dangerous at the present time.
Despite its last fiasco in the Middle East and later in Ukraine, the Biden administration is ramping up it is hostile policies against China. This was evident in Biden’s announcement of the so-called Economic Framework for the Indo-Pacific, which frankly speaking, does not provide countries of the region with any serious promises, namely a license to enter the American markets.
In the meantime, China is ramping up it is security and military pacts with the countries of the region. Crossing the red lines of Beijing means taking the entire global economy into much deeper chaos. Also, China is much more integrated into the global economy than Russia. Though Europe’s thirst for gas exposes its dependency on Russia, angering China will have dire consequences.
China, too, is not interested in a military spat with the US, especially since Beijing is already grappling with soaring numbers of Covid cases and a declining economy. In all scenarios, the consequences are bad, even too bad to imagine. Pragmatically speaking, it would be much better to avoid testing China’s red lines, otherwise, the Indo-Pacific will be facing the same fate as Europe.
Taiwanese Foreign Ministry has just announced that Chinese military exercises are preparations for a Chinese invasion of Taipei. Though, as mentioned earlier, China is less interested in a wide-scale war, any kind of miscalculation is expected to result in undesired consequences.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said Taiwan would not be intimidated by Chinese acts.
“China has used the drills in its military play-book to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” Wu added.
“It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation, and economic coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.
China, too, should refrain from taking new hostile actions against Taipei, especially since mid-term elections in the US are approaching. The Democratic party may seize the opportunity to raise tensions with China to boost domestic support for President Biden amid declining trust in the administration.