Taiwan has been gaining global support after China increased its military activities around the Island nation since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei last month.
With the close partnership between Russia and China, the world fears the serious repercussions Taiwan will have to face if China goes ahead with military action against it. This has led many countries to support Pelosi’s visit, Policy Research Group said. Several countries are expressing their support to Taiwan as they loathe the idea of another military action in the aftermath of the Ukraine invasion.
ASEAN countries have expressed concern over the simmering tensions in the Taiwan Strait. Policy Research Group reported that during a meeting of 27 nations, of which China was a part, the ASEAN countries warned that the conflict could lead to unpredictable consequences and appealed to Beijing for maximum restraint.
As per the report, the “unexpected” response by ASEAN led China’s foreign minister to walk out of the meeting. Even South Korea which stays away from directly blaming Chinar raised objections to any attempts to change the status quo by force.
Also, many countries, including eastern Europe, are looking to limit their ties with China.
Estonia and Latvia left the China-led cooperation forum in the wake of military threats by China to Taiwan and the growing friendship of Beijing and Moscow. “Latvia has decided to cease its participation in the cooperation framework of Central and Eastern European Countries and China,” Latvia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement, as per Policy Research Group.
Lithuania left the China-led group last year as it sought to boost relations with democratic Taiwan.
Other European countries like Slovakia and the Czech Republic are strengthening their relations with Taiwan while ignoring warnings from China. Despite China calling Czech Republic “despicable” for inviting the Taiwanese foreign minister, it has urged fellow European countries to reunite in its engagement with Taiwan.
Reports suggest that China is fast losing its friends and is making more adversaries in the crucial Indo-Pacific region. Notably, Japan and Australia have already joined the US-led anti-China block of western countries.
China is currently not acting rationally. Immediately after Pelosi’s visit, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government launched a four-day relentless naval exercise in the waters around Taiwan. Chinese officers resorted to living firing, which is usually a later stage exercise of operational readiness. Over 50 warships and 200 Chinese military aircraft were involved in the exercise.