US aerospace company Boeing Co has in recent years been involved in numerous safety incidents, including crashes of its 737 Max airliners, which have caused widespread concern about the company’s safety record.
It has recently come to light that titanium jet engine parts used by Boeing and its European competitor Airbus SE were sold with falsified documentation.
The source of the titanium used in these parts has been traced back to an unknown Chinese company.
It is clear that China is trying to sneak questionable titanium materials into the supply chain and use any ensuing problems as an opportunity to raise doubts about international relations and aviation safety.
In the midst of competition between the world’s two most powerful nations — the US and China — the latter has supplied counterfeit titanium materials to Boeing.
In so doing, China has tried to cause a US plane to crash, which would spread fear among the US public and cause Americans to distrust their own government, believing that this problem arose because US officials failed to strictly monitor the situation.
It would also have a negative impact on the reputation of Boeing aircraft.
China’s provision of counterfeit titanium materials to Boeing could also have a negative effect on Boeing’s sales performance in the US and foreign markets. A decline in Boeing’s sales would be sure to have a heavy impact on the US’ military and civil aviation industries.
That would give China an opportunity to develop its own aerospace industry and even surpass the US to become the new world leader in the aerospace sector.
Apart from the above-mentioned strategies, China is also trying to spread fear internationally so that other countries that buy Boeing products become distrustful of the US, in the belief that the US deliberately sells substandard products to make money from other countries and use the ill-gotten wealth to increase its investments.
China’s actions therefore go beyond undermining the US’ relations with its allies. China can also exploit each and every opportunity to gain more allies for itself.
China is prepared to take extreme measures to counter the US’ military might, even putting people’s lives at risk by exporting problematic titanium materials to the US. Such unscrupulous behavior in pursuit of its goals has triggered harsh criticism from around the world.
The Chinese Communist Party has never shied away from sacrificing human lives to achieve its goals, so we must be especially cautious about any products that are made in China.
Chen Chun is an international affairs researcher.
Translated by Julian Clegg
When it became clear that the world was entering a new era with a radical change in the US’ global stance in US President Donald Trump’s second term, many in Taiwan were concerned about what this meant for the nation’s defense against China. Instability and disruption are dangerous. Chaos introduces unknowns. There was a sense that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) might have a point with its tendency not to trust the US. The world order is certainly changing, but concerns about the implications for Taiwan of this disruption left many blind to how the same forces might also weaken
As the new year dawns, Taiwan faces a range of external uncertainties that could impact the safety and prosperity of its people and reverberate in its politics. Here are a few key questions that could spill over into Taiwan in the year ahead. WILL THE AI BUBBLE POP? The global AI boom supported Taiwan’s significant economic expansion in 2025. Taiwan’s economy grew over 7 percent and set records for exports, imports, and trade surplus. There is a brewing debate among investors about whether the AI boom will carry forward into 2026. Skeptics warn that AI-led global equity markets are overvalued and overleveraged
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Monday announced that she would dissolve parliament on Friday. Although the snap election on Feb. 8 might appear to be a domestic affair, it would have real implications for Taiwan and regional security. Whether the Takaichi-led coalition can advance a stronger security policy lies in not just gaining enough seats in parliament to pass legislation, but also in a public mandate to push forward reforms to upgrade the Japanese military. As one of Taiwan’s closest neighbors, a boost in Japan’s defense capabilities would serve as a strong deterrent to China in acting unilaterally in the
Taiwan last week finally reached a trade agreement with the US, reducing tariffs on Taiwanese goods to 15 percent, without stacking them on existing levies, from the 20 percent rate announced by US President Donald Trump’s administration in August last year. Taiwan also became the first country to secure most-favored-nation treatment for semiconductor and related suppliers under Section 232 of the US Trade Expansion Act. In return, Taiwanese chipmakers, electronics manufacturing service providers and other technology companies would invest US$250 billion in the US, while the government would provide credit guarantees of up to US$250 billion to support Taiwanese firms
RSS