Influence of China on United States is very clear

• Taiwan has become a major point of contention between China and the United States.
• US officials fear that China will move on the self-governing island soon.
• The US doesn’t officially recognise Taiwan’s government, but does sell it defensive weapons as part of its “strategic ambiguity” policy.

This week, the influence of China over the United States has been very clear and that was before the phone call between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden on Thursday, which lasted more than two hours and seemed tense. During the call, Xi Jinping said, “if you play with fire you get burned.”

A full-on diplomatic incident. Tensions are rising because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi might go to Taiwan, an island with 24 million people that China claims as its own territory but has been a self-governing democracy for a long time.

US officials have warned Pelosi about the dangers of the trip, such as making China more likely to act against Taiwan.

It’s not clear yet when or if Pelosi will go, or even if she will go. She would be the most powerful lawmaker to come since Newt Gingrich, who was Speaker of the House in 1997.

The US Navy moved ships to the South China Sea from other places. According to the international media, the USS Ronald Reagan and its strike group from a port call in Singapore took place against the backdrop of Pelosi’s possible visit.

Taiwan is getting into more trouble with China. Kevin Liptak wrote about the tense hour-long conversation between Biden and Xi. He said that Taiwan has become a major point of contention between the two countries because US officials fear that Chinese will move on the self-governing island soon.

In May, when Biden was in Asia, he seemed to say out loud a quiet part of US foreign policy when he said that the US would respond “militarily” if China attacked Taiwan.

Even though the US doesn’t officially recognise Taiwan’s government, it does sell Taiwan defensive weapons. This is part of a long-standing policy called “strategic ambiguity,” in which the US doesn’t say if it would defend Taiwan if China attacked.

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