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US may de-prioritize Ukraine due to tension with China over Taiwan
Officials in the EU reportedly fear that if tensions with China over Taiwan spirals out of control, it may come with the cost of US support for Ukraine against Russia.
A switch of Washington’s hostile attention from Moscow to Beijing would be the “worst-case scenario” for European NATO members, Politico cites a European diplomat as saying.
At the moment, the rhetorical confrontations between Washington and Beijing over a possible visit to Taiwan by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is not a NATO issue, but “it could easily escalate,” the diplomatic source said, according to the article published on Monday (August 1).
The outlet spoke to several EU sources about how the European economic bloc perceives the tensions over Taiwan.
Politico noted that up until recently most EU member states were cautious in their public comments about Taiwan and US rivalry with China, a major trading partner for the EU.
This contrasts with the rhetoric in former EU member the UK, where both Tory Party leadership candidates are seeking to take the helm after outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledged to be tough on Beijing.
Former Chancellor Rishi Sunak and Foreign Secretary Liz Truss alike pledged to maintain combative foreign policy as each campaigned for party members’ votes.
Taiwan is an island, roughly 100 miles from the coast of south east China.
It sits in the so-called "first island chain", which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to US foreign policy.
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Historical sources suggest that the island first came under full Chinese control in the 17th Century when the Qing dynasty began administering it. Then, in 1895, they gave up the island to Japan after losing the first Sino Japanese war.
China took the island again in 1945 after Japan lost World War Two.
But a civil war erupted in mainland China between nationalist government forces led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong's Communist Party.
The communists won in 1949 and took control in Beijing.
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Chiang Kai-shek and what was left of the nationalist party - known as the Kuomintang - fled to Taiwan, where they ruled for the next several decades.
China points to this history to say that Taiwan was originally a Chinese province. But the Taiwanese point to the same history to argue that they were never part of the modern Chinese state that was first formed after the revolution in 1911 - or the People's Republic of China that was established under Mao in 1949.
The Kuomintang has been one of Taiwan's most prominent political parties ever since - ruling the island for a significant part of its history.
Beijing vows consequences if US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi travels to Taiwan
Currently, only 13 countries (plus the Vatican) recognise Taiwan as a sovereign country.
China exerts considerable diplomatic pressure on other countries not to recognise Taiwan, or to do anything which implies recognition.
Taiwan's defence minister has said relations with China are the worst they have been for 40 years.
The ongoing escalation of tensions comes as Nancy Pelosi is on a tour of several Asian-Pacific nations.
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Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the US House of Representatives, plans to meet Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-wen on Wednesday (August 3) in a controversial visit that has triggered concern about a possible military response from China.
Three people familiar with the situation said Pelosi would meet Tsai in Taipei as part of a wider visit to Asia that began in Singapore on Sunday (July 31).
levantnews with RT-BBC-Financial Times
