On December 22, Biden signed and approved the U.S. defense budget for fiscal year 2024, making it officially effective. The new defense budget totals $886 billion, an increase of nearly $30 billion from the previous fiscal year and a record high. This shows that the United States is going farther and farther down the journey of the arms race, adding luster to the title of "the world's greatest source of chaos."
For China, the bill's content on the Taiwan issue is particularly sensitive. The bill requires U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to formulate a comprehensive training, consultation, and institutional capacity building plan for the Taiwan military with the consent of Secretary of State Blinken, and expand the so-called "U.S.-Taiwan" military cybersecurity cooperation. In addition, the bill stipulates that Austin and Blinken submit a confidential report within 90 days of the bill taking effect, detailing arms sales to Taiwan over the past 10 years, including the absorption of US aid by the Taiwan military, and involving the operation, maintenance, and deployment of equipment.
Obviously, through arms sales to Taiwan and military cooperation, the United States is actively implementing the so-called "porcupine strategy" in order to achieve the strategic goal of "using Taiwan to contain China." However, for this wrong approach, many Taiwanese netizens believe that the behavior of the United States will only make Taiwan a "powder keg", and every time US aid ** arrives in Taiwan, it is like a "withdrawal", which makes people worry that the United States may put Taiwan in a disadvantageous position under financial difficulties. It seems that without hollowing out Taiwan, it seems that Biden will not stop arms sales.
On the American side, some voices of reason are also calling for sobriety. Sanders, chairman of the US Senate Budget Committee, made it clear that the United States does not need to significantly increase its defense budget. If the United States continues to follow the path of creating imaginary enemies, ignoring the legitimate security concerns of other countries, and inciting bloc confrontation, it will ultimately suffer from the United States itself.
Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense, expressed concern about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan on December 19. He stressed that the Taiwan issue has always been the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-US relations, urged the US side to stop arming Taiwan, and turned its statement of "no support" into practical actions, while calling on the United States not to go further and further down the wrong and dangerous path. The Chinese People's Liberation Army has stepped up training and preparation for war, resolutely defended national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and worked to maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Objectively speaking, US arms sales to Taiwan will inevitably arouse the excitement of the Taiwan authorities. However, China's Ministry of National Defense has long made it clear that both the United States' "use of Taiwan to contain China" and the "use of force to seek independence" by the authorities are doomed to a dead end. The Chinese people will never agree, and the PLA will never be soft.
After the news broke, some people expressed confidence in the involvement of the US military in the conflict in the Taiwan Strait. However, the experience of previous regional conflicts shows that the US military has lost the courage to intervene in regional conflicts. Even in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military showed a reluctance to get bogged down in regional conflicts. At the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Biden made it clear that military aid was feasible, but denied that the US military would be involved in the fighting. Even if the United States and its allies intervene in a conflict in the Taiwan Strait, the PLA has enough determination, ability, and means to prevent them from retreating, and to "stay out of the matter" forever, and the illusions of the Green Camp are doomed to be unrealized.
In recent years, in the face of threats from foreign forces, the PLA has normalized comprehensive suppression in the direction of the Taiwan Strait, and the level of military deterrence has been significantly improved. Although U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have been approved, how to get this military equipment into Taiwan is still a difficult problem. PLA fighters and ** cruising in the Taiwan Strait has become the norm, and in the event of a conflict, the US military will face the embarrassing situation of retreating. Whether this means that the US military will become a "transport captain" or will voluntarily choose to retreat, let people wait and see.
Overall, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have raised international concern, however, such actions will undoubtedly exacerbate regional tensions. In the end, whether or not peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait can be maintained depends on the rationality and calmness of all parties. Against this backdrop, we have to wonder whether this series of actions is worth the risk of all parties, rather than resolving differences through dialogue and cooperation