War Drills Muted Attempts to Warn Taiwan as China Builds Global Peacemaker Image

The recent war games orchestrated by China are muted attempts to warn Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen that Chinese President Xi Jinping will not tolerate US and Taiwan strengthening ties while it tries to paint itself as a global peacemaker.

A report by the Wall Street Journal pointed out that China’s response in the form of ‘Operation Joint Sword’ to Tsai Ing-wen’s meeting with US House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the Californian Republican, came only after French President Emmanuel Macron ended his state visit to China.

Macron and European Union chief Ursula von Der Leyen concluded their trip to China last week.

They met Chinese President Xi Jinping and urged him to influence Russia to end its so-called ‘military operation’ in Ukraine. China also wooed Macron and der Leyen with a state dinner in its attempt to shift France towards Beijing.

During Tsai’s trip to the US, the Chinese lieutenants also hosted the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia and Iran for a meeting building on the diplomatic détente brokered last month in Beijing between the two West Asian nations that took Washington by surprise.

The Wall Street Journal in its report also pointed out that the Operation Joint Sword war drills are muted in nature when compared to the war drills China carried out around Taiwan following former US House Speaker and Californian Democrat Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei.

It also pointed out that China wants to retain its image of being a global peacemaker after it helped broker the peace deal between Saudi Arabia and Iran and also showed active interest as emerging as a peacemaker between Russia and Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron also appeared to acknowledge that Beijing can play an active role in ending the war last week.

“I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table,” Macron told Xi Jinping, the Guardian.

The Wall Street Journal also pointed out that the severity of the war games around Taiwan launched this weekend increased only after the West Asian minister, Macron and der Leyen left Beijing.

It also pointed out that Beijing did not react as expected to House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman and Texas Republican Michael McCaul’s visit to Taipei.

It should also be noted that Beijing also welcomed Tsai Ing-wen’s predecessor and rival Ma Ying-jeou to China for a high-profile visit—the first by a former Taiwanese president.

China does not want to stir anti-China emotions in Taiwan as the island-nation readies for general elections and there is no clear frontrunner, signalling that it will a tight race.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal report also claimed after analysing Chinese social media that its war games received mixed response from the Chinese people.

It cited that when Hu Xijin, veteran journalist from Chinese state-run media outlet Global Times, tweeted about the impact of the war games some were quick to point out that these were made to appease the Chinese people.

China says democratic, self-governing Taiwan is part of China and it will be reunified with the ‘Motherland’ if needed, by force and has warned US and other nations against forging diplomatic relations with Taipei.

China has launched Operation Joint Sword, a three-day war drill around the self-governed Taiwan, as a retaliatory response to Tsai’s visit to the US and Latin America.

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