In response to the visit of Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to Taiwan China has partially suspended trade with the island. This was reported on Wednesday, August 3, in the Ministry of Commerce of China.
According to him, the export of sand is frozen, the ban came into force immediately. The material is widely used in the production of concrete, in the construction of roads, buildings and infrastructure facilities.
In addition, the General Administration of Customs of the People’s Republic of China has stopped importing citrus fruits, frozen mackerel fillets and chilled sablefish from Taiwan.
How long the restrictions will last is unknown. China is Taiwan’s largest trading partner.
Pelosi Addresses the Taiwanese Parliament
Nancy Pelosi and Tsai Ing-wen
Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi spoke in the Taiwanese parliament. She thanked the head of the local administration, Tsai Ing-wen, for her leadership and called for increased inter-parliamentary cooperation.
“We give Taiwan credit for being one of the freest societies in the world,” noted Pelosi.
The plane carrying the Speaker of the US House of Representatives landed at Taipei Airport in Taiwan on August 2. The Chinese TV channel CGTN reported that the Chinese fighters at the time of the plane’s approach from Pelosi crossed the Taiwan Strait towards the island.
First visit by a Speaker of the House of Representatives in 25 years
Asian tour Nancy Pelosi started July 31st. The trip program included visits to Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and South Korea. Chinese President Xi Jinping, during a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden, warned the United States against “playing with fire” regarding Washington’s position on Taiwan.
This is the first visit in 25 years by a speaker of the US House of Representatives. to Taiwan. US Secretary of State – Anthony Blinken pointed out that the Congress is independent from the White House, an equal branch of government, so the decision to travel is “completely up to the speaker.” China summoned US Ambassador to Beijing Nicholas Burns to the Chinese Foreign Ministry in protest.
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Diplomacy of artificial islands
Military airfield in sea waters
Since the summer of 2014, China has been working on the Fire Cross Reef in the Spratly Islands. According to experts from the AMTI (Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative) project from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, an airfield is being built there that can receive H-6 strategic bombers. Pictured from left to right: fishing boats; cargo ships; excavator platform.
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Diplomacy of artificial islands
New land in no man’s waters
Haven Reef is located on the northern side of the Spratly archipelago. Thanks to dredging work, since March 2014, more than 115 thousand square meters of new land have appeared here. Specialists in international law regard this as an attempt by China to gain a foothold in the region de facto. However, from a legal point of view, artificial islands cannot be the basis for territorial claims.
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Diplomacy of artificial islands
Construction at an accelerated pace
Satellite images from 2014 show that construction on the Haven Reef is progressing rapidly. In just six months, a new artificial island appeared. The photo on the left was taken in March, showing an almost untouched reef with a small artificial platform in the upper part of the picture. In the photo on the right – an almost finished object in August. Signatures from top to bottom: original structure; artificial island; dredging channel.
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Diplomacy of artificial islands
The politics of symbolic messages
China is building another runway by expanding the surface of the South Johnson Reef (Chigua Reef). However, it is too short for strategic use. Which does not cancel the Chinese message to neighboring countries: we have come to stay.
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Diplomacy of artificial islands
Standard building scheme
It seems that the Chinese specialists in the construction of artificial islands have developed a standard scheme for the construction of such facilities. Evidence of this is the similarity between the results of work on the reefs of Haven and Hughes. A giant floating dredging platform can operate non-stop around the clock, pouring soil from the bottom of the sea onto the expanding surface part of the artificial island.
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Diplomacy of artificial islands
Philippines are trying to protest
In February 2015, the Philippines once again sent a note of protest in connection with the construction work carried out by the PRC on the Mischief Reef, which lies about two hundred kilometers from the Philippine island of Palawan. At the bottom of the picture, taken on January 19, it is easy to distinguish a floating dredge. China has previously claimed that facilities at Mischief Reef are for fishermen only.
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Diplomacy of artificial islands
Desperate Resistance
In 1999, the Philippines sent the USS Sierra Madre to Thomas Second Atoll (Ayungin Atoll) and deliberately ran it aground there. Since then, the slowly rusting ship has been guarded by a team of Filipino navies tasked with holding back Chinese expansion. In the long run, the odds are clearly not on their side.
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Diplomacy of artificial islands
Territorial dispute in the South China Sea
China has launched large-scale dredging to artificially increase the surface of some islands in the disputed Spratly archipelago. In addition to China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei claim its separate parts. The region is of great strategic importance and is rich in hydrocarbon deposits. The blue dotted line on the map marks the area China claims as its own.
Author: Rodion Ebbighausen, Alexander Delfinov
