The enmity has deepened. China has toughened its stance towards Taiwan on Thursday, warning the island that “independence means war” and that its armed forces were acting in response to provocation and foreign interference.

The warlike posturing follows the recently stepped up military operations near the island. Taiwan, claimed by China as its own territory, reported multiple Chinese fighter jets and bombers entering its south-western air defence identification zone last weekend.

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This had provoked the United States to urge China to stop exerting pressure on Taiwan. China believes that Taiwan’s democratically-elected government is moving the island towards a declaration of formal independence. However, the Taiwan President, Tsai Ing-wen, has repeatedly stressed it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its formal name.

Asked about the recent activities of China’s air force, the Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman, Wu Qian, was emphatic that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.

“The military activities carried out by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in the Taiwan Strait are necessary actions to address the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard national sovereignty and security,” was Mr Wu’s defence of what Taiwan deems irresponsible.

These represent “a solemn response to external interference and provocations by ‘Taiwan independence’ forces,” he added. More basically, China has accorded the short shrift to Taiwan’s essay towards independence; the respective geostrategies can be contexualised with Mr Wu’s rather contrived claim that only a “handful” of people in Taiwan were seeking the island’s independence. Which would suggest that its independence is more basically Taiwan’s minority perception.

The Pentagon’s stand has been rather ambiguous. In its reckoning, articulated in the immediate aftermath of China’s posturing, it maintained that tensions in Taiwan “don’t need to lead to anything but confrontation”.

“We warn those ‘Taiwan independence’ elements: those who play with fire will burn themselves, and ‘Taiwan independence’ means war,” has been the supplementary of the US defence headquarters. While China has never renounced the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, it was unusual until recently for Beijing to make such overt, verbal threats of conflict.

The Pentagon spokesman, John Kirby, has reaffirmed the longstanding US military support to Taiwan’s self defence. “We have obligations to assist Taiwan with their self-defence and I think you’re going to see that continue,” said Kirby, a retired admiral.

President Joe Biden’s government, in office for a week, has reaffirmed its commitment to Taiwan as being “rock solid.” At another remove, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said China should think carefully and not underestimate the island’s determination to defend its sovereignty and uphold freedom and democracy. The geopolitical plot thickens as China displays increasing belligerence in the Straits, as it has elsewhere in its neighbourhood.