Taiwan

Authored by Graham Allison via The Strategic Culture Foundation,

Can Beijing and Washington escape the Thucydides Trap?

While Donald Trump already spoiled the surprise of the contents of the latest semiannual report from the Treasury on currency manipulation, when on Wednesday he told the WSJ that China would not be named a currency manipulator, moments ago the US Treasury confirmed just that when it published the long awaited report on "Foreign Exchange Policies of Major Trading Partners of the United States" which while keeping the same six countries - China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Germany, and Switzerland - on its manipulation monitoring watch list, it said no major trading partner met the criteria

Two weeks after China allegedly unveiled a new ICBM system "in response to Trump's provocative remarks", a report which however was subsequently denied by Chinese officials, China had no qualms about revealing another highly accurate ballistic missile in recent Rocket Force drills, which is capable of threatening not only Taiwan and the contested South China Sea islands, but also U.S. and Japanese bases in Asia.

Taiwan initiated defense preparation exercises in response to provocation by China, vowing to “enhance training 365 days a year.” On Wednesday, China sent its sole aircraft carrier into the Strait of Taiwan, raising the tension between Beijing and the self-ruled island. Sputnik reports: Taipei simulated a scenario in which China’s sole aircraft carrier, the Lioaning, crossed the dividing line of the Taiwan Strait in a simulated attack on the island, home to some 23 million people.

Taiwan today sent the clearest message to China that it is taking deteriorating diplomatic relations with its estranged mainland cousin seriously, when the island nation began two days of military drills simulating an attack by China, in the wake of Beijing's sailing of an aircraft carrier through the Taiwan Strait, as the government sought to reassure the public.