The Chinese military has condemned the United States and Canada for each sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait last week, saying they were threatening peace and stability in the region. China claims democratically ruled Taiwan as its own territory, and has mounted repeated air force missions into Taiwan’s air defence identification zone (ADIZ) over the past year, provoking anger in Taipei. China sent about 150 aircraft into the zone over a four-day period beginning on 1 October in a further heightening of tension between Beijing and Taipei that has…
Tag: Canada
To Get Back Meng Wanzhou, China Uses a Hardball Tactic: Seizing Foreigners
In a rapid-fire climax to a 1,030-day standoff, China prepared to welcome home a company executive whose arrest in Canada and possible extradition to the United States made her a focus of superpower friction. In getting her back, Beijing brandished a formidable political tool: using detained foreign citizens as bargaining chips in disputes with other countries. The executive, Meng Wanzhou, was set to land in China on Saturday night local time to a public that widely sees her as a victim of arrogant American overreach. By the same turn, Michael…
U.S. Reaches Agreement to Release Huawei’s Meng Wanzhou
For its part, the Chinese government has underwritten the cost of installing Huawei gear, in an effort to dominate networks from Latin America to the Middle East. Ms. Meng came to personify that effort. Her determination to wire up Tehran, at a time in which the West was seeking to contain Iran’s nuclear program, attracted protests among American officials. For that reason, some China hard-liners objected on Friday to news that the charges were being dropped. “It sends the wrong message to Chinese business executives around the world that it’s…
Meng’s Release Could Reduce Friction Between U.S. and China
The deal to release Meng Wanzhou could reduce a nettlesome conflict in U.S.-China relations. President Donald J. Trump took an aggressively adversarial stance toward China, castigating Beijing for what he called unfair trade policies, blaming it for the coronavirus pandemic, blocking Chinese technology companies from the lucrative American market and imposing heavy tariffs on Chinese exports. The Trump administration also accused Huawei of stealing technology from its Western rivals. Since coming to office, President Biden has also taken a tough position on China. He has sought to establish the United…