All news

China will not resolve Taiwan problem by force in near future — expert

"Neither the United States nor China are now interested in confrontation," Dmitry Streltsov said

MOSCOW, August 8. /TASS/. There are no signs indicating that China is planning to use a force scenario to resolve the problem of Taiwan as Beijing is evidently not interested in joining Taiwan by force, Dr. Dmitry Streltsov, professor and holder of chair in Oriental studies at MGIMO-University, told TASS on Sunday.

"There are no signs indicating that China plans to resolve this problem by force in the near future," he said. "Neither the United States nor China are now interested in confrontation. Very important events linked with the transit of power and a new congress of the Chinese Communist Party, which will elect the party leader, are expected in China and, in this sense, China needs certain international legitimacy."

The United States, in his words, is not interested in "being dragged into a conflict situation in East Asia amid the difficult situation in Europe," either.

According to Streltsov, it is highly improbable that China will venture a military operation to join Taiwan, since in the current situation "China can develop relations with Taiwan and put up with its special status unless the latter tries to act as a sovereign state on the international arena and conduct its own diplomacy." "That is why if nothing challenges this paradigm, I think, this situation can continue for quite a long time," he added.

He also drew attention to the fact that China is currently trying to resolve this problem diplomatically. "It is his long-term strategy. This is China’s approach to the Taiwan problem - to resolve it by diplomatic means in the framework of the ‘one country, two systems’ paradigm," he said.

He stressed that China’s military drills in a number of areas around Taiwan are Beijing’s response to the recent visit to the island by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which was seen by China "as an insult undermining stability in the region." "The fact that China resorted to the demonstration of military might following the visit does not mean that China is trying to use this force. I see no signs that the situation is developing in this direction. The situation has calmed down by now and I think that it was not in China’s interests to escalate the situation around Taiwan," he added.

Taiwan has been governed by its local administration since 1949 when the Kuomintang’s remaining forces headed by Chiang Kai-shek (1887-1975) were defeated in the Chinese Civil War and took refuge on the island. Taiwan has preserved the flag and several other symbols of the Republic of China that had existed before the Communists took over the mainland. According to China’s official position supported by most countries, including Russia, the Island of Taiwan is one of China’s provinces.