The visit to Taiwan by Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives - and the ballistic response by China - were reminders of the strategic interests of great powers.Here in Washington the Biden administration let it be known it was not keen on the Pelosi visit. The speaker was personally briefed by America's top soldier, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley, who counselled against the trip, as did the Secretary of State.
For sure there are a lot of moving parts in the background, but two big events have shifted the strategic outlook. Chief among them is the war in Ukraine. And in President Xi Jinping, a leader more comfortable with nationalist rhetoric. What if China decided to assert itself militarily while the West was concentrating on Ukraine?
The Communists won the war, but the defeated party, the nationalists, held out on Taiwan. A tense region ever since, an uneasy peace has been maintained through ambiguity. There is now a very deliberate effort under way on both sides of the Atlantic to"re-shore" industrial production back to Europe and the US, to ensure supplies - particularly of high tech products - but even of simple products, like paper surgical masks.
Just 9% are made in the Europe - down from the 44% share it held at the end of the Cold War. This is an extreme vulnerability which neither Europe nor the US can live with. The EU Chips Act aims to raise output to 30% by the end of this decade. If it is not open for business - then nor are very many businesses in the West. And the supply shortages already apparent from Covid are fueling price inflation not seen for decades. The effect of a massive naval war in this regions would be even more destabilising.
German Liberal Nicola Beer is in the same parliamentary group as Fianna Fáil. It follows the first ever delegation visit by Members of the European Parliament to Taiwan last November, and MEPs urging the EU to open a diplomatic office on the island.China can afford to be a little relaxed about losing some exports to the West - its economic strategy ever since the economic bust of 2008/9 has been to move away from an export led development model, towards one based on internal demand.
Military analysts have been concerned for some years about the sheer volume of military hardware deployed in the south China sea region.
seanwhelanRTE Chips.....
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