The newspaper "Le Monde" said that Chinese President Xi Jinping recently doubled down on his hints of an imminent "reunification" of his country with Taiwan, which has been politically separated from it since 1949, and warned that any Chinese attack on Taipei could provoke direct conflict with Washington.
The French newspaper pointed out in its editorial that the issue of Taiwan, which has long been seen as a long-term and moderately intense regional conflict, has today become the focus of attention not only in Washington and Brussels, but also in Tokyo, Canberra and other countries, which has not happened since the 1995-crisis. 1996 that sparked the show of power between China and the United States.
The newspaper pointed out that the level of threat posed by Beijing to Taiwan has accelerated, especially since the first of this October, when China conducted about 150 sorties in the air defense zone of Taiwan, which the newspaper attributed to the bidding of the Chinese nationalist leader and the rise of Beijing's military power capable of Now it has launched cyber and traditional attacks on its rival, fueling fears about the tiny island of Taiwan.
Le Monde added that the democratic character of Taiwan can be seen as the inverted image of a Chinese regime different from the authoritarian regime in Beijing on an island only 180 kilometers from this country, which is intolerable in the eyes of China, according to the newspaper, especially after the fatal blow to the principle of a "state of One, Two Systems", which has made it possible to maintain Hong Kong's autonomy since its handover to China in 1997, Taiwan is clearly the next step towards implementing the "one China" slogan that China's current leaders have been raising.
war atmosphere
For its part, the United States sees this situation as a very important challenge because it is convinced that China is seeking to distance it from its dominant military and economic position in the world.
Since its recognition of the People's Republic of China in 1979, Washington is no longer bound by a treaty to defend Taiwan, but only to give it the means necessary to defend itself in the event of an attack.
But it is clear, according to the newspaper, that the atmosphere of war is increasing, especially after the US Central Intelligence Agency has classified China as "the most important geopolitical threat we face in the 21st century", and Washington realizes that China's invasion of Taiwan would represent a turning point in its control. over the Indo-Pacific region.
So far, according to Al-Saeed, Washington is still ambiguous about the level of its response to any Chinese aggression on Taiwan as a deterrent to China, while Beijing has ranged between escalation and calm in statements.
But the lines, according to Le Monde, move dangerously;
The fall of Kabul encouraged the Chinese leadership and strengthened its conviction of the decline of American power. The repeated speeches of Washington's leaders about the Chinese threat convinced the majority of Americans - according to an opinion poll - of the need to defend Taiwan militarily against China.
In her editorial, Le Monde fervently wished that President Xi Jinping would not have the foolishness to start hostilities, and would stick to the "peaceful means" rhetoric of reunification he used in his address this year marking the anniversary of the founding of the first Chinese republic in 1911.
The newspaper added that everything should be done to encourage Beijing and Taipei to resume the interrupted dialogue since 2016, warning that Beijing's risk of attacking Taipei may provoke direct conflict with Washington;
This would threaten not only the stability of China and the stability of East Asia, but also the entire world peace.