Beijing intensifies its military pressure on Taiwan with the resumption of talks between the United States and China

The intensified military pressure comes as the United States and China try to get relations back on track after two years of stagnation. For example, in their meeting, Sullivan and Wang emphasized the plan to launch a collaborative US-China “counter-drug working group” on Tuesday to address the fentanyl crisis.

“Mr. Sullivan stressed during the meeting that the United States and China are in competition, but the United States does not seek conflict or confrontation, and there are areas for cooperation in the relationship,” a senior administration official said on Saturday.

But China's military moves in the past 24 hours may complicate hopes for cooperation.

The approach adopted by China in dealing with Taiwan, which it considers its territory, constitutes a sensitive sticking point in its unstable relationship with the United States, which believes that Taiwan will maintain its autonomous status. The controversial issue comes up almost everywhere United States and China meeting, including high-level talks between President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November.

During their two-day meeting in Bangkok on Thursday and Friday, Sullivan and Wang talked about reopening communications between the two militaries, reducing the flow of fentanyl and mitigating the risks of artificial intelligence.

Sullivan also reiterated the US position on maintaining the status quo of Taiwan's sovereignty. But China has repeatedly rejected the US position and has loudly expressed its intention to do so “Reunification” of Taiwan With the mainland.

China's military pressure on Taiwan comes during what senior administration officials described as a “period of heightened tension.”

Taiwanese voters recently elected Democratic Progressive Party candidate Lai Cheng-ti as their next president. Lai was China's least favorite candidate due to his support for maintaining the status quo in Taiwan.

Before that election, the United States braced for a range of responses from China.

“Anytime we head into a period of heightened tension, there are always emergency talks in the U.S. government,” a senior administration official said at the time.

He added, “I do not want to go into details about that, but of course we have to be prepared and think about any possibility… from no response to the highest end.”