TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Diplomats warn China is laying the groundwork for assigning blame on the U.S. to justify its use of force in annexing Taiwan, sowing confusion among many Asian leaders.
In a special report titled "China has chilling plans for governing Taiwan," The Economist posits that among China's plans to divide and conquer Taiwan and its supporters is a campaign to assign blame on the U.S. for any tumult that occurs during a Taiwan crisis. According to the report, China has been perfecting "anti-American talking points."
The magazine cited a Western diplomat as claiming that across Asia, Chinese wolf warrior diplomats are portraying the U.S. as a "provocateur" that at one time allegedly accepted that Taiwan was part of China, but now stokes its "separatist fantasies." Part of this strategy involves Beijing deliberately blurring the lines between China's "one China" principle with America's "one China" policy.
Under the "one China" principle, the People's Republic of China (PRC) claims to be the only legal government of China and Taiwan is an "inalienable part of the Chinese territory." However, the U.S. "one China" policy recognizes that PRC is the "sole legal Government of China," and acknowledges Beijing's claims to Taiwan without recognizing them, but has always maintained an ambiguous stance on Taiwan's political status.
According to the diplomat, China has succeeded in convincing Asian leaders that the U.S. is stirring up Taiwanese independence advocates. As a consequence, if China takes aggressive military action in the strait, many Asian nations could potentially see the U.S. and its allies as the instigators.
Another diplomat stated that Chinese disinformation efforts do not need to be completely successful, so long as they sow confusion. The diplomat warned that Asia's political, business, and media elites have become divided by China's influence operations and use of economic coercion.
This dissension among influential figures could potentially prevent Asian governments from mounting "coherent responses to a Chinese attack on Taiwan."
