Trade wars: Taiwan only a pawn - The Global Times

The Global Times has reported how the latest US approval of arms sales to the island of Taiwan will hurt delicate China-US relations at a sensitive time:

The latest US approval of arms sales to the island of Taiwan will hurt delicate China-US relations at a sensitive time when China and the US are to resume trade talks, and Taiwan secessionists should know that they are only being used as a card by the US, Chinese experts warned Tuesday. 

Even if the island acquires US weapons, the Chinese mainland still has an overwhelming advantage over the island in military strength, and Taiwan secessionists should not expect US protection in case of a military conflict, they stressed.

At a routine press conference on Tuesday, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang urged the US side to immediately cancel the plan to sell arms to Taiwan and end its military links with the island, before it causes more harm to China-US ties and the peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits. 

Taiwan only a pawn

China and the US are stuck in a trade war and the US is playing all kinds of cards to create trouble and pressure China. Taiwan is one of them and nothing more, analysts said. The US is using Taiwan secessionists to obtain its own interests, Li said, noting that the secessionists do not care about China-US relations, so they could take the US bait and risk it all. But the US will only let the people of Taiwan suffer the consequences if the risk spirals out of control, Li noted.

Wei said that the arms sale could give secessionists in the island an illusion of US support, but the US military will by no means fight for Taiwan, especially against an opponent as powerful and determined as China. China and the US, the two largest economies in the world, are playing a game, and while China sees the island of Taiwan as an inalienable part of itself, the US only sees it as a pawn, analysts stressed.

The Australian dollar trades as a proxy to the trade war, and AUD/JPY takes the brunt of these escalations.  AUD/JPY dropped to test the 20-day moving average overnight where it has since stabilised, around 75.40. Next stop on the chart is 73.90.