In a meeting with EU Commission leader Ursula Von Der Leyen, Chinese president Xi Jinping threatened an invasion of Taiwan once again.
“An illusion” is how Chinese president Xi Jinping called any hope for concessions made by China on the Taiwan issue. Xi spoke on Thursday after an official meeting between himself and the president of EU Commission Ursula Von Der Leyen.
At the meeting, the two leaders discussed both Ukraine and Taiwan, possibly the two hottest geopolitical focal points in the world.
As for Ukraine, Von Der Leyen warned Xi against sending weapons to Russia, a possibility already presented by American intelligence last month. At the time, China was thought to be in talks with the Kremlin to support Russia with battle drones. If that were to happen, China would become the most important Russian ally.
“We … count on China not to provide any military equipment, directly or indirectly, to Russia, because we all know arming the aggressor would be against international law,” Von Der Leyen said. Providing Russia with military equipment, she added, would significantly harm relationships between the European Union and China.
On his part, Xi promised he will give a personal call to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, who already urged his Chinese counterpart to do so.
Lately, China has taken a clear stance in support of Russia in the war, a stance that will likely be confirmed in the following months.
The Taiwanese crisis
Then, the two leaders talked about the issue over the island of Taiwan. The de facto independent island has been threatened with Chinese invasion for almost a decade now, and every year tensions between the two countries rise.
Taiwan is a strong Western ally, with a significant US military presence and the promise that Washington would intervene with men on the ground in case of an invasion. On the other hand, China does not appear to be threatened, keeping a menacing presence over Taiwan.
Though, an outright invasion is extremely unlikely to happen, if only for the crucial monopoly over microchip manufacturing that Taiwan has.
Nevertheless on Thursday president Xi reiterated Chinese intentions to close the Taiwan dossier once and for all. “The Taiwan issue is at the center of the core interests of China,” he said. “If anyone wants to make a fuss about ‘one China,’ the Chinese government and people will never agree.”
China is undeniably getting further diplomatically from the West. Chinese power over Russia, a relationship that resembles a vassalage, allows the dragon to seriously challenge American hegemony.
Another Cold War is almost inevitable to start. Hopefully, like the last one, it remains cold until a winner is declared.
