Augusto Manzanal Ciancaglini
Geopolitical Analyst
Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, visits Taiwan in defiance of Beijing.ancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, visits Taiwan in defiance of Beijing. China’s response was immediately channelled through the largest military manoeuvres in its history around Taiwan, blockading the island.
At the advent of US policy, the tallest skyscraper in Taipei was lit up with a message that read: “The friendship between the United States and Taiwan will always be strong”. A few weeks later the State Department announced more than $1.1 billion in military aid to Taiwan.
The strategic ambiguity that Washington has developed over Taiwan, the centrepiece of the US encirclement that goes beyond the island chain strategy, is now focused on provoking Beijing, which, at the same time, seeks to remind Moscow that the important game is inevitably played in the Indo-Pacific.
For the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of China represents a very close warning that highlights both its form of government and its incompleteness as a nation. It is also an essential point from which to begin to truly dominate the commercial and technological seas because of its location and its semiconductors.
For the time being, Beijing, among other things, is trying to encircle the encirclement towards Oceania, i.e. beyond the second island chain; its agreement with the Solomon Islands is the best example of this.
Each side is playing its own game: Moscow is playing the game according to the logic of chess, using different tactics to attack head-on; Beijing, for its part, is trying to imitate the means of wéiqí to encircle its adversary. Meanwhile, Washington continues to play Monopoly.
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