- COMMONWEALTH GAMES 2022 -

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JAHAN GI R'S V□ L15 ISSUE XI I 5 E PTEMBER '22

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 VISIT TO BOOKISH
BANDA

An attempt to enrage the Dragon

Shafqat Javed
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•1 Enumerating the causes behind the Peloponnesian •
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1 War that was fought between Athens and Sparta and •
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1 their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek •I
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1 world, the ancient Greek historian Thucydides explains, •
: "It was the rise of Athens and the fear that this instilled in :
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1 Sparta that made war inevitable." This situation is often •I
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1 described as Thucydides trap, a term popularized by •I
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1 American political scientist Graham T. Allison to •I
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1 describe an apparent tendency towards war when an •I
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, emerging power threatens to displace an existing great •I
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1 power as a regional or international hegemon. From the
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1 recent spate of events, it seems that the existing
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1 superpower of the contemporary world, i.e. the United I
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1 States, out of its fear of the rise of an emerging one, i.e.
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I problems, e.g. Beijing and Washington announced their
, China, is taking such steps that are leading both the
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cooperation on climate change at the COP26 climate
, powers into this deadly trap. The recent visit of Nancy I summit, saying that they would join forces to curb
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1 Pelosi, the most senior elected American official, to the
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methane emissions, the Covid-19 pandemic also
1 island of Taiwan gives credence to this viewpoint.
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I demonstrated the importance of the two nations
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1 Multiple experts and analysts have warned that a I collaborating on health security, But, of late, the United
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1 dangerous crisis looms large and it might escalate into :. States is making all-out efforts to enrage China and trap it
: a full-blown military confrontation between the United : into a war that would mar the prospects of its rise.
: States and China. The recent visit of Nancy Pelosi, the Speaker of the US
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House of Representatives who stands second in line of
Although experts of international relations succession for the US presidency, has further added fuel
and political scientists believe that economic to this fire of antagonism and host1l1ty. Although the visit
engagement is the best way to avoid a war, the was not without precedent as members of US Congress
assertion seems to prove wrong. There was a routinely travel to Taiwan, yet officials have generally
consensus, just a few years ago, that if an avoided high-level visits - the last speaker to visit the
established superpower builds strong trade and Island was Newt Gingrich in 1997. Pelosi's visit lasted only
investment ties with a newly emerging one, the ideological 24 hours but it will pose long-ter1n challenges for the
differences would fade away. But, in the case of US-China already tense relationship between Beijing and
conflict, this seems a flawed approach. It is true that Washington, besides creating sigr:rificant problems for
despite their differences, both countries have been Taipei, which looks set to suffer the worst of Beijing's ire.
working together on some of the world's biggest "faiwan must certainly recognize the reality that any effort

www.jworldtimes.com September 2022

 \ statements that \•Vere ai1ned at infuriating China. She
vociferously stated that her visit was intended to make it
"unequivocally clear" that the United States vvould "not
abandon" the democratically go,remed island.
Pelosi, a vocal critic of Cllina for decades, said in a
statement after landing in Taivvan: "Sadly, Taiwan has
been pre,1ented from participating in global meetings,
most recently the \-Vorld Health Organization, because of
objections by the Chinese Communist Part11• While they
ma)' prevent Tai,\·an from sending its leaders to global
farums, they cannot prevent \vorld leaders or anyone
from tra,:elling to Taivvan to pay respect to its flourishing
democrac·y, to lligblight its rnany successes and to
reaffirm our commitment to continued collaboration."
Enraging the Dragon
E\1en ,vhen it "'·as unco1lfirmed if Pelosi '"'ould visit
·rai,van, Chinese Presider1t Xi Jinping, as vvell as China's
Foreign r.linistf)', l1ad '\'varned the lJS against sending a
srnior government official tc) rhc island that China
considers its 0\\'11 province. Beijing ,vas outrageot1s at this
IJlalanl breach of diplomatic norms as t11c United States
sl ill of[ici<llly mair1tains its 'One Cl1ina' policy adopted by
President Jimmy Carter "vho recognised the Jleople's
Republic of China in 197�) and agreed that llis coU11lTy
,,·ot1ld clrop recognition of the "other" Chinese
governn1enl in 1·aipei. While visiting l'aiwan, Pelosi
1·xploitcd various occasions to make ot1trageot1s slanders
against Chir1a on issues including democracy, human
rights, l long Kong, Tibet, Xinjiang and religion, which
rcncclcd her long-standing, anti-China position.
0 er the years, Pelosi has been using the anti-China card
and China hate for political gains, and grossly interfered
in Cl1ina's internal affairs. In 1991, Pelosi disturbed public
order by grandstanding in the name of supporting so­
called "democracy" during her visit to China. In 2008, she
,vent out of her ,vay to stir up trouble on Tibet, and tirged
President George W. Bush to boycott the Beijing Summer
Olympics. In 2019, she met in Washington DC with anti­
t<) seek i11dep<'nde11ce from China is fantasy which, if Cbina, destabilizing forces from Hong Kong, and
acted on, ,vo,1ld trigger forcible reunificalion through described the violent demonstrations in Hong Kong as "a
1nilitary n1cans. llelosi's ,'isit '"as an e.xercise in rnoving the beautiful sight to behold". In 2019, she met with Rebiya
US a,-va}' fro111 its co11fusing policy of strategic ambiguity Kadeer, a principal figure of "Xinjiang independence"
v.1l1en it con1es to the defense of l�ai,,1an island, and as separatists. fn 2021, she played the same old trick by
sucl1 a ,-veakening of the ft1nda1nental precepts ,vhich advocating a US "diplomatic boycott" of the Beijing Winter
sustain the One Ch:i.I1a polic)', namely that Tai,van '"'ill Olympics. On the Taiwan question, Pelosi's influence is
never be independent. B)7 hosting Pelosi, Tai,,ran sent a surely behind all the so-called "Taiwan-friendly" bills
clear sig11al tl1at i t supported this re\1amping of US policy passed by the US Congress in recent years.
and1 by e>.1:ension, was seeking to mo,,e closer to China's response
independence. MsPelosi's brief trip incensed Beijing, which views Taiwan
Cllina's response makes it clear that "Taiwan's as a breakaway province to be reunited with the mainland
independence" will never be accepted. Given the military - by force, if necessary.
and eco11on1.ic pressure being brought on Taiwan because In response to the trip, China announced what it called
ofPelosi's \lisit, it is impossible to conclude anything other "necessary and justn military drills in seas around 10 miles
than tl1atPelosi's visit has been a big loss for Taiwan. (16km) from Taiwan. China deployed scores of planes and
The visit fired live missiles near Taiwan in its biggest drills in the
Even during her stay in Taipei, Nancy Pelosi made Taiwan Strait, a day after Pelosi's trip to the self-ruled

www.jworldtimes.com September 2022 19