CHINA-TAIWAN STRIFE

Tough Nut To Crack

Tensions with China are at their worst in 40 years. Coinciding with the 72nd anniversary, China's military flew tens of fighter aircraft as many as 149 times towards Taiwan in recent days, in what is the most recent attempt at putting pressure on the self-governing island by displaying Beijing's military might. Beijing views Taiwan as a Chinese province that split from mainland China amid civil war in 1949.

                               Taiwan considers itself as a Sovereign state. Although largely unrecognised by other countries as such, self-ruled Taiwan sees itself as no less than an independent nation, and defends its sovereignty against Chinese goal of ''reunification''.  Taiwan alleges that China will be capable of mounting a full-scale invasion by 2025. China's continuous breaching of the air defence zone is seen as a tactic to test the capabilities of the Taipei defence forces. China has increasingly mobilized military, diplomatic and economic pressure to undermine Tsai's independence-leaving administrations while threatening to bring the island under Chinese communist party control. As tensions flay over Taiwan, China and the US are both trying to lay down firm markers. US allies have meanwhile stepped up, with Japan resolutely backing Taiwan, including its bid to join a regional trade pact, and Australia entering the new three-way AUKUS partnership with the US and Britain widely viewed as a response to rising China. Taiwan and India may be 4500 kms apart and completely different environments, but in both territorial disputes with Beijing, the temperature appears to be rising.

                                 Despite the heightened tensions, relations between China and Taiwan have not deteriorated to levels last seen in 1996 when China try to disrupt presidential elections with missile tests and the US dispatched aircraft carriers to the region to dissuade them. Taiwan must open its channel to get rid of perennial problem. A bloody cross-strait solution should be considered as a serious option and multilateral level talks are required to dispel all the possible strife in near future. It's time for Taiwan to ascertain its security.