China sends warships, aircraft near Taiwan after president meets with US House Speaker: Could tensions rise further?

China will take “resolute and effective measures to safeguard national sovereignty”, the foreign ministry had said in reaction to a meeting between Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in California on Wednesday.And Beijing kept its word, kind of. On Thursday, one Chinese anti-submarine helicopter and three warships were detected around the self-ruled island. “1 PLA aircraft and 3 PLAN vessels around Taiwan were detected by 6 am (UTC 8) today,” Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defence said in a statement.Taiwan defence minister Chiu Kuo-cheng told Parliament that the Chinese carrier, Shandong, was spotted off the east coast and that they were keeping an eye on its movement. He told lawmakers, according to a Reuters report, “It is training but the timing is quite sensitive, and what it is up to we are still studying.”Why is it that China is angry over Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to US? What will happen next? We decode the situation for you.Meeting that set it all offThe action in the waters near Taiwan has been set off owing to President Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The two met at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in California’s Simi Valley on Wednesday.The meeting is the second time that Tsai has met with an American lawmaker of that rank in the space of a year, following a visit from then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan in August. Tsai is also the first president of Taiwan to meet with a US House speaker on American soil.At a joint press conference following the meeting, Tsai said, “It is no secret that today the peace we have maintained and the democracy which (we) have worked hard to build are facing unprecedented challenges. We once again find ourselves in a world where democracy is under threat and the urgency of keeping the beacon of freedom shining cannot be understated.”[caption id="attachment_12415972" align="alignnone" width="640"] Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen with US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. Reuters[/caption]McCarthy also called for continued arms sales to the island, further economic cooperation and the promotion of “our shared values on the world stage.” He reiterated multiple times the desire to avoid any sort of conflict between China and Taiwan.Also read: How US and Taiwan are strengthening military ties amid rising China tensionsTsai added in her remarks, “We’re stronger when we are together. In our efforts to protect our way of life, Taiwan is grateful to have the United States by our side.”The meeting in California came as Tsai transited the United States on her way home from Central America where she visited Guatemala and Belize. These visits came as Honduras parted diplomatic ties with Taiwan, announcing that it would recognise the People’s Republic of China. This leaves Taipei with only 13 diplomatic formal allies.The White House before the meeting reiterated that China shouldn’t take Tsai’s California layover as a provocation. “There is no reason for [Beijing] to overreact,” National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters on Wednesday. Tsai’s presence in California “is not uncommon, it’s not official and there’s no reason for them to react in any sort of an aggressive manner because she’s not meeting with any administration officials,” Kirby said.China’s angerBut, that’s not how China views the visit and Tsai’s ‘transit diplomacy’.When Tsai announced her transit visit to US, Beijing was unhappy, with a spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry saying that “China firmly opposes and strongly condemns it.”China’s Consulate General in Los Angeles also condemned the meeting as “not conducive to regional peace, security and stability,” warning it would “undermine the political foundation” of China-US relations.And on Thursday, Beijing began military drills in the waters surrounding Taiwan. Moreover, China’s State media said the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) Eastern Theatre Command had been holding “intensive drills” on land, as well as in the sea and air over the past week.[caption id="attachment_12416012" align="alignnone" width="640"] Lettering is seen in the sky during Taiwan's president Tsai Ing-wen and US Speaker Kevin McCarthy's meeting in Simi Valley, California. Reuters[/caption]But why is the meeting so irksome to China? It’s important to note here that Taiwan is a deeply emotive issue for China’s Communist Party, and for Chinese president Xi Jinping. China has claimed Taiwan as its territory since the Republic of China government fled to the island in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong’s Communists.Moreover, China believes that US officials meeting with Tsai is a violation of the years-long ‘One China’ policy — that there is only one Chinese government, the one on the mainland. In recent times, Beijing has ratcheted up tough talk about bringing Taiwan back under its control — including by force.As Al Jazeera reports, President Xi Jinping, who has also begun his third term, sees the unification of Taiwan and China as a key part of his legacy.Over the past three years or so, China’s air force has flown almost daily into what Taiwan calls its air defence zone with record numbers of flights by bombers and jet fighters recorded in December 2022.China’s past aggression against TaiwanChina’s actions on Thursday are quite similar to what they did as former US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited last August. Her visit became the highest-ranking American official to visit Taiwan in 25 years. Her trip was viewed by Beijing as a provocation and violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.Hours after the US lawmaker met Tsai in Taipei, China began large-scale war games and launched missiles over and around the island. It had also suspended several lines of communication with Washington.Also read: The consequences of China’s largest-ever military drills around TaiwanBut Taiwan under Tsai Ing-wen, who incidentally Beijing views as a separatist, didn’t back down. Taiwan responded with its own show of defiance. Its army conducted live-fire artillery drills in the southern Pingtung county. Also, Taipei’s diplomats condemned Beijing’s actions in front of international media.[caption id="attachment_12416022" align="alignnone" width="640"] A pro-China supporter hits images of Nancy Pelosi and Tsai Ing-wen with a shoe to protest the American's visit to Taiwan. File image/Reuters[/caption]More tensions in the futureIt’s unknown what Beijing’s next steps will be, but it’s certain that the meeting will further sour relations between the US and China. It will feed the vicious circle of reaction and recrimination that is bringing the US and China closer and closer to a crisis, and possible conflict, over Taiwan.Also read: Why Taiwan president’s visit to US will only worsen tensionsInterestingly, Tsai’s stopover visit in the US also comes as the island prepares for presidential elections to choose her successor. Experts believe the race could be heavily influenced by what steps Washington and Beijing take in the months ahead, including whether China reacts militarily to this week’s meeting.“The problem is, for Beijing, either way, they lose,” Yun Sun, a co-director of the East Asia Program and the director of the China Program at the Stimson Center told the New York Times. “If they overreact, they will lose because the US will provide more support to Taiwan, and Taiwanese public opinion will be even more against reunification. But if they don’t react, this will be perceived as acquiescence.”With inputs from agenciesRead all the Latest News, Trending News, Cricket News, Bollywood News,India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.