German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Tuesday at a moment all eyes are on US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s Air Force plane reportedly en route to Taiwan, “We do not agree with a situation where a big neighbor attacks a small one, while violating international law. And this also applies to China.”
She pledged that “in case of aggression from China, Germany will help Taiwan” in the statement. Like in Ukraine over the past months, once ‘neutral’ Germany has grown much more active on the foreign policy front in following Washington and the UK’s more bellicose and interventionist stances of late.
China’s foreign ministry has, however, warned Pelosi and the West in general against “playing with fire” over the Taiwan question. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said earlier in the day, “Some politicians in the US are openly playing with fire in regard with the Taiwan issue in pursuit of their own interests.”
It appears various rival countries are fast “lining up” on either side of the China-Taiwan issue, with Russia on Tuesday making its stance clear.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said according to state media, subsequently picked up in international reports, “Everything related to this tour and a possible visit to Taiwan, of course, is purely provocative. This provokes a situation in the region … leads to an increase in tension.”
He spelled out that Beijing’s outrage and condemnation of the Pelosi visit to Taiwan “is absolutely justified” and that Moscow fully understands China’s perspective.
“Instead of respecting this sensitivity, unfortunately, the United States chooses the path of such a confrontation,” Peskov added, stressing that nothing good can come out of this tense situation.
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TV tower in Moscow: “#China, #Russia is with you!” pic.twitter.com/15FUis4RDE— EHA News (@eha_news) August 2, 2022
Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many analysts have pointed to the Taiwan and Ukraine issues being closely parallel, a comparison which Beijing has rejected at every turn.
Russia and China have instead chosen to frame both as examples of Western ‘interference’ in their spheres and affairs, particularly given ramped up weapons shipments from NATO countries to both Ukraine and Taiwan.