The cross-strait negotiations were still fruitless, and the Continental Army aircraft intensified their patrols against Taiwan, and the 052D ship also appeared in Kinmen. In less than 24 hours, the news of "a wave of Taiwan military decommissioning" came from the island, and what signal was released? If the Taiwan authorities refuse to make concessions to the mainland and want to wait for the situation to change, will they succeed in their goal?
On 3 March, the two sides of the strait held the 15th round of talks on the "14 February Kinmen Ship Collision Case," but still no agreement was reached. On 4 March, the 16th round of talks, which had been planned, was also canceled because of the return of personnel from Taiwan's "Coast Guard" to the island of Taiwan. At present, it is not clear whether the personnel of Taiwan's "Coast Guard" left Kinmen this time and returned as quickly as before. However, after more than 10 days of talks between the two sides of the strait, only one result was reached, that is, Taiwan's "Coast Guard" agreed to pay compensation to the families of the fishermen killed on the mainland, but insisted on paying compensation to the families of the fishermen who died on the mainland, but insisted on the name of "pensions" because they did not believe that they were at fault. Obviously, the Taiwan side only wants to calm down the incident as soon as possible and is indifferent to the mainland's demands.
What makes people even more angry is that at a meeting of Taiwan's "legislature" on 4 March, Guan Biling, responsible person of Taiwan's "Strait Affairs Council," did not apologize for the incident when she made a report on the "Kinmen ship collision case" and changed the title of the report to "Banning the Accident" without authorization. According to Taiwan media, the main content of Guan Biling's report is threefold: first, it claims that the responsibility for the "Kinmen ship collision case" "lies entirely with the mainland", because the mainland "allowed ships to cross the line"; Second, it stressed that Taiwan's "Coast Guard" has the right to "safeguard the right to govern Taiwan" and slandered mainland fishermen for "not cooperating with law enforcement" and causing the incident, so the Taiwan side will not apologize. Third, Taiwan will only give pensions to the dead fishermen on the mainland out of humanitarianism, instead of compensation; Fourth, if mainland vessels "do not stop crossing the border," similar acts will occur. It can be seen that the Taiwan authorities have made it clear that they will never make any concessions to the mainland, and they will continue to create incidents. In this case, cross-strait talks have lost their significance.
**The purpose of the authorities in doing this, as we have mentioned before, is to use the "Kinmen ship collision case" to create tension between the two sides of the strait, stir up antagonism on the island, and expand their own base. ** The authorities also believe that the situation in Kinmen continues to escalate, so that the "mini three links" between the two sides of the strait have been in fact suspended, so that they can "blame the mainland for sabotage, so as to obtain a "bargaining chip". * There are two important prerequisites for this plan, the first is that the United States will intervene in the situation in Kinmen, and the second is that the mainland will not take over the island. Guan Biling's courage to change the title of the report without authorization and unscrupulously provoke the mainland highlights the confidence of the authorities in their own strategy. Some Taiwan media said that Guan Biling wanted to increase her campaign chips for the post of mayor of Kaohsiung through her tough stance in the "Kinmen Ship Collision Case".
However, will the United States really intervene in the situation in Kinmen, and will Chinese mainland not take the island? Recently, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley made remarks on the situation in Kinmen, claiming that Chinese mainland did not use force in the Taiwan Strait because "traditional US deterrence has played a role", so the subsequent development of the Kinmen incident can be regarded as a further test after "military deterrence takes effect". As soon as Milley's words fell, the Taiwan media once again hyped up the news that the so-called "US military will send people into Kinmen." At the same time, Taiwan's public opinion representative "Wang Dingyu" also clamored for "the United States and Taiwan to protect fisheries" and said that he would "invite" the US Coast Guard to come to the Taiwan Strait. It can be seen that the Taiwan authorities dare to continue to be tough on the mainland, and the greatest confidence is "US support."
However, Milley also mentioned that if Chinese mainland's lack of use of force is regarded as the norm, this is a very serious miscalculation. At the same time, the well-known US think tank "Center for Strategic and International Studies" also issued a warning, saying that the United States should not hype up the situation in the Taiwan Strait too much, because this is to confirm its own interference in the Taiwan issue, so that Chinese mainland has an opportunity to upgrade its measures against Taiwan.
How should we understand the warning to Milley and American think tanks? In this regard, some analysts said that two conclusions can be drawn from the Taiwan-related moves of the United States and the statements of Milley and other United States. First, the United States has actually acquiesced in Chinese mainland's efforts to strengthen law enforcement in the waters of Kinmen. Milley mentioned that the mainland's failure to use force in the Taiwan Strait is due to "the traditional deterrence of the United States playing a role," which in fact shows that as long as the mainland "does not use force," the United States can accept it. Earlier, when referring to the Taiwan issue, US White House National Security Adviser Sullivan said that the United States hopes that Chinese mainland and the Taiwan region will "resolve all disputes by peaceful means." This remark is widely regarded by the outside world as supporting China's peaceful reunification, which is consistent with the implicit meaning of Milley's remarks.
It is worth mentioning that judging from the current situation in the Taiwan Strait, the mainland coast guard ship formation has already surrounded Kinmen and cut off the supply lines of the Taiwan military on the island, and the so-called situation of "US troops entering Kinmen" cannot be realized. At the same time, the scope of activities of the mainland coast guard ships is also expanding, and they have already approached the Penghu Islands, depriving the Taiwan authorities of the so-called "governance of the Taiwan Strait." The People's Liberation Army (PLA) is also stepping up its patrols in Taiwan, with fighter planes approaching 23 nautical miles from Taiwan Island. The United States has not reacted to a series of actions by Chinese mainland. **The "US support" that the authorities have been waiting for is most likely just some "help" in terms of rhetoric and armaments. In addition, the US Air Force's RC-135V electronic reconnaissance plane appeared at the southern entrance of the Taiwan Strait on 6 February, but in the end it did not dare to break through, which can also show that the United States does not want to intervene in the situation in the Taiwan Strait at this time.
Second, Milley's mention that "I don't think Chinese mainland will use force" is a miscalculation, and the US think tank also said that "the mainland has the opportunity to upgrade its means against Taiwan", which shows that the United States is aware that Chinese mainland may use force against Taiwan. In fact, the PLA 052D destroyers are already cruising in the waters off Kinmen. Taiwan media also reported that an 8,000-ton official ship from the mainland also appeared in the waters of Kinmen. The most important thing is that in the mainland's work conference on Taiwan, the "strategic initiative" of further grasping complete reunification was explicitly mentioned, and the "one family on both sides of the strait" that had been mentioned many times has disappeared. The mainland's emphasis on "strategic initiative" means that it will take the initiative in the Taiwan Strait in the future and intensify its crackdown on the "leading forces" on the island. In the future, the mainland will take more forceful actions in its strategy in the Taiwan Strait.
It seems that realizing that the situation is not good, there is a sudden wave of retirement on the island. According to Taiwan media reports, the United States' F-16C fighters for Taiwan will be delivered one after another next year, so the Taiwan military wants to expand the number of pilots. However, many Taiwan military pilots chose to retire this year because the pressure brought about by the mainland's series of forceful actions was too great for them to withstand. Since the Taiwan authorities insist on taking a tough stance and want to "wrestle their wrists" with the mainland, then the mainland must use practical actions to prove how stupid their actions are!