Thailand backs ‘One China’ policy amid US Taiwan PR disaster

Thailand called for restraint between China and the United States amid Nancy Pelosi’s brief visit to Taiwan on Tuesday.

It is unclear why the US House of Representatives Speaker met with Taiwan’s president Tsai Ing-Wen in Taipei, other than yet another shit-stirring exercise by the US to provoke China into doing something rash. It almost had the desired effect.

China’s response to Pelosi’s visit was to flex its military muscle and undertake a series of combat exercises near the Taiwan Strait.

Pelosi’s bullish, “the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy” did not help. It was not only unnecessary, but it was crass and it will probably provoke a response. But why does the rest of the world face that choice?

The US appears to have a perpetual foreign policy of poking its unwanted nose into other nations’ affairs. The latest is the US involvement in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Yes, Vladimir Putin is probably a psychopath, yes, he has broken international law by invading Ukraine. The US has never done that, right?

It doesn’t matter which side of the fence you sit on, if you put a foreign army on someone’s doorstep, as the US did plonking its guerrilla NATO army on Russia’s border, it is understandable Putin would react. Wouldn’t the US do the same if an army set up camp outside of Washington?

US interest in Taiwan is tenuous at best. They were involved in diplomatic relations during China’s Civil War between the Communists and the Nationalists in the mid to late 1940s. The Nationalists retreated to Taiwan and have remained there ever since.

What makes US shit stirring even more bizarre is that they recognise the “One China” policy, that Taiwan is part of China. Yet at the same time, the US threatens China with military action if they invade Taiwan. It has to be noted that since it reformed under the People’s Republic of China, China has never invaded another country. The US has sent troops into foreign countries, how many times since the end of World War II?

Thailand is both a friend to the US and China, and yesterday demonstrated great foreign diplomacy.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said he hoped both nations involved in the Taiwan strait will resolve their differences through peaceful means.

Tanee said Thailand is following developments in the Taiwan Strait with much concern.

“Thailand stands by the ‘One China’ policy. We do not wish to see any actions that would aggravate tensions and undermine peace and stability in the region.

“We hope that all parties concerned exercise utmost restraint, abide by international law and principles of respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, and resolve their differences through peaceful means.”

The Chinese embassy in Thailand issued a statement on Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan urging the kingdom, which it called a “strategic cooperative partner,” to continue to respect the ‘One China’ principle that it had followed since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1975.

The statement said…

“China is convinced that Thailand, as a friendly neighbour of China, will continue to uphold international justice, support China’s efforts to safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity, champion China’s great cause of reunification, and work with China to jointly maintain the peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the region.”

SOURCE: Nation Bangkok Post