Chinese invasion of Taiwan looms as international leaders take neutral position over the longstanding conflict

04/17/2023 / By Oliver Young

China has ramped up military drills near the coast of Taiwan as international leaders take neutral position in the conflict between the East Asian nations.

The U.S. has long been a key ally of Taiwan, supplying it with billions of dollars in weaponry to deter a possible Chinese invasion. But other countries continue to sever relations with Taiwan and take a position of neutrality on its independence.

Just recently, French President Emmanuel Macron signaled that his country would stay out of a conflict between China and Taiwan. Macron said France does not want to get involved in “bloc vs. bloc conflict” between the U.S. and China.

Meanwhile, China recently simulated a blockade of the island-nation that would slow down or prevent U.S. intervention. The drills came just two weeks after Taiwan’s leadership met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Ca.)

The exercises were similar to those conducted by China last August, when it launched missile strikes on targets in the seas around Taiwan in retaliation for then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the island.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) declared on April 10 that it is “ready to fight” after completing three days of large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan. The “combat readiness patrols” named Joint Sword were meant as a warning to self-governing Taiwan, which China claims as its own.

“The theater’s troops are ready to fight at all times and can fight at any time to resolutely smash any form of ‘Taiwan independence’ and foreign interference attempts,” the PLA announced.

Military experts say the exercises serve both as intimidation and as an opportunity for Chinese troops to practice sealing off Taiwan by blocking sea and air traffic, an important strategic option the Chinese military might pursue in the event it uses military force to take Taiwan.

America plans to use the Philippines in proxy war against China

A week before the PLA’s announcement of its readiness to fight, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. named four additional bases that the U.S. will now have access to under an existing defense agreement to expand military cooperation.

The four sites will be in Isabela and Cagayan, on the island of Luzon, facing north toward Taiwan, and in Palawan, near the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. (Related: Philippines gives American forces access to 4 additional military bases.)

These new locations are on top of five bases the U.S. currently has access to, bringing the total number of bases the American forces can rotate through in the Philippines to nine. The expansion is seen as a significant step in the U.S. effort to build up its military assets in the region to prepare for a future war with China.

Manila-based think tank Integrated Development Studies Institute (IDSI) earlier warned of the possibility that the Philippines would get involved in such war between the two giants.

“The U.S. will fight a proxy war against China up to the last Filipino – just like what it did to us in World War II and what the U.S. did in Ukraine from 2014 up to now,” IDSI noted.

“Over 100,000 Ukrainians have already been killed; with the security and peace, economy and democracy of Ukraine all destroyed.”

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Watch this video about China’s military drills near the coast of Taiwan.

This video is from the Ruth Mackenzies channel on Brigteon.com.