At the end of the 18th Sino-US Defense Department Working Meeting, why did the US side come to the talks with hypocrisy? What is the mystery hidden in the newly disclosed US arms sales to Taiwan?
Recently, the 18th Sino-US National Defense Ministry Meeting was concluded, during which the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on Sino-US military relations, exchanges between the two militaries in the next stage, and issues of common concern. For this matter, I would like to give you three points.
First, the symbolic significance of this meeting between China and the United States is greater than its practical significance. Why? To take the simplest example, as we all know, in Sino-US relations, the Taiwan Strait issue is a hurdle that cannot be bypassed, and since it is an issue of common concern to both sides, the Taiwan Strait issue is very likely to be raised. On the Taiwan Strait issue, the Chinese side has China's position, and the US side has the US side's intentions.
However, even so, the Sino-US working meeting is still of positive significance on the whole. This is because strengthening communication between China and the US military can effectively avoid strategic miscalculations, because after all, as one of the world's leading military powers, once a strategic miscalculation occurs, the consequences will be unimaginable. This is not only what China and the United States need to understand, but also what the outside world wants to see.
Moreover, from this perspective, the Sino-US meeting also demonstrated China's sincerity in easing bilateral relations. You must know that after Pelosi ignored China's opposition to Taiwan, military exchanges between China and the United States were interrupted for a time, and now the two sides have resumed communication, no matter what, at least a big step forward.
The second point is that after the conclusion of the meeting and negotiations, senior US officials left Beijing, and before leaving, the United States began to go back on its word. According to media reports, the United States has approved a potential $228 million arms sale of spare parts to Taiwan. Negotiations and communication on the front foot, arms sales to Taiwan on the back foot, United States hypocritical face is presented to the world.
In the past two years, after listing China as the "primary threat," the United States has begun to suppress China in various fields. Among them, playing the "Taiwan card" against China is one of the tricks used by United States, and "US-Taiwan" collusion has also become a word that has frequently appeared in the past two years. During the Tsai Ing-wen period, the Taiwan authorities peddled the "two-state theory" on various occasions, and after Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, China's measures on the Taiwan Strait issue have become more and more severe, and the military exercises around Taiwan have dealt a severe blow to the arrogance of "US-Taiwan" collusion. During the Lai Qingde period, Lai Qingde was no better than Tsai Ing-wen, openly propagating the "two-state theory" and openly kidnapping more than 20 million people on the island on the "Taiwan independence chariot." United States not only expressed solidarity with Lai Qingde, but also seized the time to sell arms to Taiwan.
The approval of arms sales to Taiwan by United States this time is actually part of the "US-Taiwan collusion," which also reflects the psychology of United States both wants and wants China.
Third, there is a new discovery in the United States arms sales to Taiwan this time. I don't know if you have noticed, although United States has begun to seize the time to sell arms to Taiwan, but looking at the list of arms sales in the past few United States, service and after-sales have become the focus, and there are fewer and fewer real new weapons. This means that, on the one hand, the United States wants to play the "Taiwan card" and wants to seek economic benefits through arms sales to Taiwan; On the other hand, United States is afraid of playing the "Taiwan card" and United States is afraid that frequent arms sales to Taiwan will make the situation in the Taiwan Strait dangerous and the mainland will take action to reunify the Taiwan Strait. Therefore, United States arms sales to Taiwan have become "secondary sales," so that they can not only make money, but also avoid strategic miscalculations through Sino-US military communication, and "get the best of both worlds."
However, it makes little sense for United States to do so. After all, cross-strait reunification is the trend of the times, and it cannot be stopped by United States. If United States still has some intentions in the Taiwan Strait and fantasizes that it can maintain the status quo through strategic communication, then China will use practical actions to tell United States that they are wrong.