“ABOARD THE USS RONALD REAGAN, Philippine Sea – The U.S. 7th Fleet will send more aircraft and warships past Taiwan in the coming weeks, a response to China’s military exercises that have surrounded the island starting Thursday, according to the White House … The Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group will also remain in the region to “monitor the situation” as Beijing continues its exercises in the wake of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s mid-week stop in Taiwan, national security spokesman John Kirby said at a White House press conference Thursday … China that day began a series of air force and naval exercises, including 11 ballistic missiles fired toward Taiwan, five of which came down in Japan’s economic exclusion zone east of the island democracy.
“We condemn these actions, which are irresponsible and at odds with our longstanding goal of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the region,” Kirby said. “China has chosen to overreact and use the speaker’s visit as a pretext to increase provocative military activity in and around the Taiwan Strait.” https://www.stripes.com/branches/navy/2022-08-05/taiwan-navy-ronald-reagan-carrier-6886874.html
The paradox of the 2022 Chinese communist missile crisis is that the ultranationalist and divisive dictator Xi is accelerating the timetable for Japanese and American military officers to return to Taiwan Republic. For the broader global and world history level forces at work see my previous posts on the characteristics of America as a global maritime empire. Also little noted in western press: The American general in charge of US forces in South Korea recently stated US forces in Korea respond to a Taiwan crisis rapidly. One would have already guessed so but a very unusual public statement. Last year during the vaccine crisis in Taiwan manufactured by the China CCP-KMT three American senators made an unusual direct flight from a US military base in ROK, on a gigantic C-17, directly to Songshan Air Force Base, Taipei. Very rapid shifting landscape for sure, with decades of rules and practices being shattered by all sides. It may be time to question the use of the phrase “status quo.” Or at least redefine what we all mean by it. 7.8.2022
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