US provocations over Taiwan question a minefield for China ties, encourage "once and for all" solution
Provocations only encourage 'once and for all' solution: experts
are a minefield for China-US relations with the Taiwan question becoming the most dangerous, Chinese observers warned on Friday, citing a Republican-backed, provocative resolution and house speaker Kevin McCarthy's possible visit to the island.
They stressed that the US' repeated provocations over China's red line will only strengthen China's determination to address the Taiwan question once and for all.
Lü Xiang, an expert on US studies and a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing, believes that if McCarthy makes the visit, which is highly likely, China's response against the US would be of higher intensity than that after then house speaker Nancy Pelosi's provocative visit to Taiwan island in August 2022.
Besides China announcing sanctions against Pelosi and her immediate family, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) in August held joint drills in the Taiwan Straits which were of unprecedented scale and duration, forming a blockade of the island.
China has drawn a clear-cut red line, but if the US regards it as not clear enough and keeps testing the line, "we don't mind reinforcing it," Lü told the Global Times on Friday.
Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert and TV commentator, cited a Chinese saying that "quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes."
The US keeps hollowing out its political commitment by passing bills, selling weapons and making provocative visits to the island of Taiwan. Its provocations keep piling up in quantities, which will lead to a qualitative change - China has to address the Taiwan question once for all, Song told the Global Times on Friday.