The Straits Times
Date: Jan 5, 2019
By: Tan Dawn Wei, China Bureau Chief

A pro-China demonstrator waving Chinese flags outside the venue of the Taipei-Shanghai Twin City Forum held in Taipei recently. Beijing has always regarded Taiwan as a breakaway province with no option but to return to the motherland.PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

On Dec 31, President Donald Trump signed into law the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act, which will beef up US presence in the Indo-Pacific region and support measures. The Straits Times’ China and India bureaus look at the implications.

There ought to be more than a few things in the newly passed Asia Reassurance Initiative Act that China would not be pleased with.

But the one that truly annoys Beijing is the United States’ insistence on cosying up to Taiwan, long regarded by China as a breakaway province with no option but to return to the motherland.

On Wednesday, China’s foreign ministry said it “resolutely opposed” the signing of the Bill, which calls for more official exchanges between the US and Taiwan and regular arm sales to the island, and had formally registered its displeasure with Washington.
[FULL  STORY]