Political escalation, economic sanctions and diplomatic statements... Will America succeed in attracting China to its side with the Ukrainian war?

The eyes of observers of the latest developments in the escalating tension between the United States of America and China looked forward to Taiwan, where Chinese and American officials converge on visits that are not devoid of symbolic and practical connotations.

Talk about the fate of this tension was renewed after the arrival of 6 Chinese officials to Taiwan on a visit, the first of its kind in 3 years, at the invitation of the authorities in the capital, Taipei, to attend a cultural event.

The visit coincided with another by the Chinese policy official at the Pentagon to the island, which represents one of the axes of escalating tension between Washington and Beijing, as the latter insists on considering it part of the territory of Greater China, and refuses to consider it an independent and sovereign country.

The visit of the two countries' officials to Taiwan comes after a short period of political escalation between them, against the background of the Chinese balloon incident that was shot down by the United States over its territory.

Despite the tension in the relations of the two countries, David Sidney, the former US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for National Security Affairs in Asia, considered - in his interview with the "Behind the News" program (18/2/2023) - that there is a real interest for America and China for their relationship to allow for a discussion The concerns between them, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine and climate change.

He considered that the balloon incident distracts attention from the main interest of the two countries, as the first security threat in the world is Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "and here China must play its role in order for Russia to withdraw from Ukraine," he said.

real threats

Speaking about the threats facing the two countries, he indicated that North Korea had launched another ballistic missile, which - according to him - constitutes a threat to America as well as the East Asian region, considering that China can help reduce tension, and he hoped that China and America would discuss a solution. These basic issues and avoid escalatory terms to facilitate the process of dialogue between them.

As for China's point of view, the journalist and researcher on Asian affairs, Rong Huan, explained that China believes that America cannot dialogue and cooperate with it at a time when it is making "provocative" moves, and therefore it is "better" to make joint efforts to expand the scope of cooperation and achieve peaceful coexistence between The two countries, explaining that China welcomes direct contact with America, on condition of mutual respect.

He also pointed out that America is working to increase its military presence next to China and is working to form alliances with neighboring countries, considering that sending an official delegation to Taiwan worsens its relationship with China, as well as imposing economic sanctions on Beijing, which makes it illogical for there to be direct contact between them in The shadow of the strategy adopted by America.

"hysterical" politics

And Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had stressed - in statements at the Munich Conference - that Taiwan has never been and will not be in the future an independent country, indicating that what he described as Taiwanese separatist forces threaten the unity of China.

He added that Washington did not listen to Beijing's calls to deal with the balloon crisis calmly and professionally, and preferred to pursue a policy he described as hysterical, saying that the downing of the Chinese balloon did not show the strength of the United States, but rather the opposite.

As for the United States, which said it had completed the process of recovering the remains of the Chinese airship, its President, Joe Biden, said that Washington does not want another cold war, stressing that he intends to meet with his Chinese counterpart and have an in-depth conversation with him about the circumstances of the airship issue.

While all eyes were on a possible meeting between US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his Chinese counterpart, US Special Envoy for Climate Affairs John Kerry said that China and the United States should go beyond the balloon issue to discuss other, much more important issues.

In the context of what can be described as a war of statements between China and the United States, Pentagon spokesman Colonel Michael Miners said that American support and the defense relationship with Taiwan remain strong against what he described as the current threat posed by China.

The Financial Times also reported that the White House will hold a meeting with senior Taiwanese officials next week in Washington for talks, which are decided to be private to avoid an angry response from China.