Cued at Taiwan's Tsai, China threatens 'relative individuals' after US diplomat visit

Rattled by high-level US official visits to Taiwan, China on Monday threatened President Tsai Ing-wen with "legitimate countermeasures" after she denounced Chinese fighter jets crossing the 'median line' on the Taiwan Strait and called Beijing a "threat to the entire region".

Tsai on Sunday said China’s decision to hover its aircraft above the island has revealed the true intentions of Beijing. On September 18 and 19, several Chinese aircraft cross the midline in the Taiwanese straight and entered the air defence identification zone in Taiwan.

In a strongly-worded response, the Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing will take "legitimate countermeasures, including targeting relative individuals" after US Undersecretary of State Keith Krach completed his visit to the island on Sunday, adding that the US "must bear full responsibility" for the outcome.

Chinese Communist Party's (CCP) mouthpiece Global Times reported Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin in a press briefing saying, "Taiwan secessionism is a dead end. Connivance and support for that aim are doomed to failure. Any act that undermines China's core interests and interferes in China's internal affairs will be vigorously countered by China."

"We urge the US to correct its mistakes, stop all official and military contacts with Taiwan, and stop interfering in China's internal affairs and stop words and deeds that undermine China-US relations and peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits," Wang added.

According to the mouthpiece, the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) reportedly conducted nearly 40 sorties featuring four major types of warplanes — air superiority fighters, multirole fighters, bombers and an anti-submarine warfare aircraft, which Chinese mainland analysts said on Sunday are capable of "seizing air superiority and command of the sea" over the island of Taiwan and in the Straits.

What has also rattled the CCP is Japanese media reports that said after Yoshihide Suga became Prime Minister, former PM Yoshiro Mori made a visit to Taiwan and met Tsai Ing-wen and told Tsai that the Suga wants to have a phone call with her.

China contacted Japan to clarify the report and Japan replied that such a call would absolutely not happen, China's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. Tsai also denied on Sunday that Taipei and Tokyo discussed the issue and said that the two sides had no plan for a phone conversation.  

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Reason behind the cross-strait escalation

The decades-long simmering tensions between Communist-ruled mainland and democratically-run Taiwan suddenly escalated amid stronger US support for Taipei which reflected from two high-profile visits in as many months. US Health Secretary Alex Azar visited the island in August which was followed by another diplomatic visit by Keith Krach, the undersecretary for economic affairs, in September.

Washington has openly supported Taiwan’s inclusion on important international platforms, especially at the World Health Assembly after its successful coronavirus response. The self-governing island republic considers itself as sovereign while China claims the province as Beijing’s territory under its one-China policy and has been pushing to implement the Hong Kong system in Taiwan. 

Beijing has become more assertive on the reunification of Taiwan with China under “one country, two systems” which has threatened Taiwan’s claim of sovereignty. It has forced Taiwan to prioritise defence purchases to thwart any aggressive military action from China. Recently, Taiwan revealed its plan to buy Harpoon anti-ship missiles from the United States to deal with the Chinese threat.

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