At noon on Monday (July 19) this week, a US C-130 transport plane landed at Taiwan’s Taoyuan airport. This is the second time US military aircraft have arrived in Taiwan in just 5 short days. The outside world believes that this move of the US is sending a strong signal to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
On July 19, an American C-130 transport aircraft (civil version) landed at Taiwan Taoyuan Airport. (Photo: Central News Agency)
Taiwan’s Liberty Times reported that on the afternoon of July 19, an American C-130N3755P transport plane landed at Taiwan’s Taoyuan airport. During the landing, ground personnel unloaded the items contained in the wooden boxes and flew away after completing the relevant maneuvers.
The media noticed that the shipment was from Mr. Brent Christensen, Director of AIT, who had left Taiwan a few days ago. The goods sent to Taiwan belong to Ms. Sandra Oudkirk, who came to Taiwan to take up the position of Director of AIT.
On the morning of July 15, a US Air Force fighter plane landed briefly at Taipei Songshan Airport. The fact that two US military planes landed in Taiwan in just 5 short days, Wang Dingyu, a lawmaker from Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), stated on Facebook that : “How the United States and Taiwan interact is a matter for the United States and Taiwan, and outsiders have no right to interfere.”
To date, the Beijing government has not expressed its position on this issue. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of China also responded with “no comment”.
Lam Tuan Hien (Lin Chun-hsien), a legislator of the Democratic Progressive Party, posted an analysis on Facebook. The article said: “The State Department did not disclose too many details, probably related to the handover of the new AIT director. In particular, the military and private security industries in the United States are very developed, so many tasks are performed by private contractors. This aircraft is a special aircraft contracted by the US Government to transport government goods. This is also a rare aircraft that has the right to appear in Taiwan.”
Lam Tuan Hien said: “Because this special plane is very special, it is both used by the US Government and not owned by the US Government. The curious thing is, how will the Chinese government, which has always jumped into similar situations, react this time? In the past, China has repeatedly emphasized the “red line” that is the presence of US military aircraft or ships in Taiwan. What about this type of aircraft that straddles the line between official and unofficial? How should China’s foreign ministry take it?”
He mentioned: “In the past, Chinese state media continuously propagated that ‘US military plane landing in Taiwan is the day of reunification by force.’ However, after this statement appeared, The frequency of American planes going to Taiwan seems to be more, and there are different types of planes. There is a transport plane with the words ‘US Air Force’ printed on it, there is also an administrative plane of the US military but without the coating. This time, there is a civilian transport plane of a US Government contractor here, as if trying to embarrass China.”
Lam Tuan Hien said: “In fact, the term ‘red line’ is a big taboo in diplomacy. By this means revealing his trump card to other nations. Relatively speaking, other countries can also use various confusing methods, to invalidate this trump card. Ultimately, this will undermine the country’s own credibility. Especially when China confronts the US, a country with first-class diplomatic experience. The US can solve this by going to Taiwan with different types of aircraft. It seems China has to take a step back and draw another line!”
Finally, Mr. Lam Tuan Hien emphasized: “In any case, Taiwan wants to communicate with whom is our freedom. Of course we will choose to side with partners with similar values.”
