Can Taiwan rely on United States 'security guarantee', asks China's military

The official newspaper of the mainland Chinese military stated on Monday that the United States cannot be relied upon to safeguard Taiwan, as an aircraft carrier group completed its third and final day of planned military drills off the island. as reported by South China Morning Post (SCMP).

The name "Jun Sheng," a pun in Mandarin that means the voice of the military, was used to pen the article for the PLA Daily. Referring to the military tactic of discouraging military attacks from the mainland by making war too expensive, it accused the US of using Taiwan as a pawn and building a "porcupine" island to confine Beijing.

China launches "Joint Sword" military drill

In retaliation to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen's meeting with US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday in California, while travelling back to Taiwan from Central America, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) started the "Joint Sword" military drills on Saturday, SCMP reported.

Beijing sent a warning before the discussions, threatening "resolute and powerful measures" if the conference proceeded. According to the US State Department, the House of Representatives speaker has the authority to independently determine the Congress' schedule because it is a coequal body of government.

The PLA practised missile strikes against important targets in Taiwan and the waters around it over the weekend. To increase its battle readiness across the military services and its capacity to encircle the island, it also sent ships and warplanes close to Taiwan, as reported by SCMP. 

"Can the US 'security guarantee' be depended on?" asks the article

The editorial in the PLA Daily charged the US with ulterior motives of sending armaments to Taiwan with hidden agendas. “Can the US ‘security guarantee’ be depended on? The answer is, of course, a resounding no,” the article said.

The article read, “The US’ arms sales and military ties with Taiwan in the name of providing ‘security guarantees’ are intended to take advantage of the situation to benefit the military-industrial complex on the one hand and to seize the opportunity to turn Taiwan into a ‘hedgehog island’ and a frontier ‘ammunition depot’ to contain China on the other."

“It is clear to see the sinister intentions of using Taiwan as a chess piece and instigating chaos on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait,” the article further stated.