On June 12, 2023, the Former US Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger is leading a Washington-based think tank to Taiwan, where he will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and other senior officials to discuss regional security issues, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) announced, according to Focus Taiwan.
Pottinger, chairman of the Foundation for Defence of Democracies (FDD) China Programme, will also meet with National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-chien and Deputy Foreign Minister Roy Lee during their visit, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a press statement.
Pottinger’s group will also visit the Ministry of National Defence, Coast Guard Administration, and Ministry of Digital Affairs to exchange perspectives on national security and strategy, digital resilience, and information security concerns, according to MOFA, as reported by Focus Taiwan.
Focus Taiwan is a part of the Central News Agency (CNA), the national news agency of the Republic of China (ROC), aka Taiwan.
Other delegation members include FDD CEO Mark Dubowitz and Jacob Nagel, a senior fellow at FDD who previously served as head of Israel’s National Security Council and as acting national security advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, among other positions, according to Focus Taiwan.
Pottinger worked at the White House for four years in senior positions on the National Security Council staff, notably as deputy national security advisor from 2019 to 2021. He was responsible for coordinating the whole scope of US national security policy in that capacity.
Between June 11 and June 12, 2023, at 6:00 AM, the Ministry of National Defence of Taiwan reported that the 24 PLAAF (Peoples Liberation Army Air Force) aircraft and five PLAN (Peoples Liberation Army Navy) ships came closer to Taiwan. Out of the 24 aircraft, ten of them entered Taiwan’s Air Defence Identification Zone and crossed the Taiwan Strait median line
The fighter aircraft includes four Shenyang (J-11) fighters, four Shenyang (J-16) and two SU-30 fighter aircraft. In response, Taiwan responded by sending planes, naval ships and land-based missiles to monitor PLA Activity, according to Taiwan News.
Beijing has sent 141 military aircraft and 53 naval ships around Taiwan so far this month. According to Taiwan News, the Chinese have employed the use of Greyzone tactics.
Grey Zone warfare and tactics are defined as an effort or series of efforts beyond deterrence and assurance that enables to achieve and accomplish strategic objectives without resorting to violence and direct confrontation.
The display of the military might show in Taiwan Strait by China and the USA, especially after the subsequent visit of a US politician or important leader, is not new to the international community.
Last year, on August 2, 2022, Nancy Pelosi, the US House of Representatives Speaker, visited Taipei, the Taiwanese capital, along with a delegation of five people. The General Secretary and President of China, Xi Jinping, had warned the US to face serious and dire consequences if the US plane carrying the delegation landed in Taipei.
The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) has accused the US of interfering in its “internal matter” and violating its “territorial integrity.” However, China could not stop the Americans from visiting the island. Subsequently, China began its aggressive military muscle-flexing in the Taiwan Strait, including violating the Air Identification Zone with its naval and aerial assets.
The US, in response, began their military drills near the Taiwan Strait, and a period of tension and hostility remained in the region for a certain period of time.
The Chinese follow a “One China Policy”, which is focused on the fact that only one China, i.e., the modern-day PRC, exists in the international world order and under this policy, it states that there cannot be two Chinas. It considers Taiwan or the ROC to be an integral part of China, and hence, they aim to unify and annex it.
In 1949, the Communist Mao Zedong emerged victorious over the Kuomintang Nationalist Party, who were later pushed or driven to present-day Taiwan. They were subsequently known as the Republic of China (ROC), and they follow a democratic government in stark contrast to the PRC (Peoples Republic of China), a communist regime in the 21st century.
