Taiwanese officials see the US’ capture of the president of Venezuela as a powerful deterrent to Beijing’s aggression and a timely reminder of the US’ ability to defeat militaries equipped with Chinese-made weapons.
The strikes that toppled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro signaled to authoritarian leaders, including Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), US President Donald Trump’s willingness to use military might for international affairs core to US interests, one senior official in Taipei’s security circle said.
That reassured Taiwan, the person said.
Photo: Bloomberg
Taipei has also dismissed the idea that Trump’s apparent violation of international law could embolden Beijing, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about sensitive issues.
China considers Taiwan part of its own territory, so international laws do not factor into its calculations, the person said.
What Beijing lacks is capability, not precedent, they added.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
For decades, the US — Taiwan’s top weapons supplier — has been a restraining force on Chinese aggression, with the risk of sanctions and US military action looming over any invasion. While Trump has held off saying whether the US would defend Taipei from any attack by Beijing, last month he approved an US$11.1 billion weapons package for Taiwan — one of its largest-ever deals.
By contrast, Venezuela is the biggest buyer of Chinese weapons in South America, with sales totaling US$495 million in the decade ending 2020, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
That was only topped by Russia, which supplied Caracas with 60 percent of its imported arms during that period.
“The level of sophistication of US equipment, compared with the weapons Venezuela obtained from Russia and China, was fully exposed in this operation,” Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) told lawmakers at the Legislative Yuan yesterday.
“Venezuela’s problem is not just which country its weapons came from — the most critical issue is maintenance,” Hsu added.
Trump’s stunning late-night operation saw more than 150 US aircraft sweep into Venezuela, after the US neutralized the South American country’s air defenses. US forces then grabbed Maduro and his wife from a military base, and spirited them away by helicopter to a warship en route for trial in New York.
That Venezuela’s military power was dismantled within hours by US forces would give Beijing plenty to think about, a separate senior national security official in Taiwan said.
The bullish sentiment among Taiwanese officials — who have reason to talk up their position — contrasts with nationalist sentiment sweeping Chinese social media, where users said the strike offered a template for how Beijing could handle tensions with Taiwan.
On Taiwanese social media, opinions were divided. Some expressed concern the developments in Venezuela could embolden Beijing, while others voiced optimism that the episode signaled a tougher US stance toward countries with close ties to China and Russia and could prompt Washington to focus more on the Indo-Pacific region.
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