Even a minor naval incident between Washington and Beijing in the hotly disputed South China Sea risk becoming “nightmarish”, military observers have warned. Analysts attending the Xiangshan Forum in Beijing spoke of the risk that Taiwan purchasing weaponry from US President Donald Trump could impose as another sticking point between him and China’s President Xi Jinping. Former PLA Major General Yao Yunzhu said: “Strategically speaking, trust between China and the US has fallen. A skirmish involving military aircraft or warships in the South China Sea could easily escalate.”
Bates Gill, professor of Asia-Pacific security studies at Australia’s Macquarie University, added Taiwan could become the final nail in the coffin in the crumbling relationship between Presidents Jinping and Trump.
Mr Gill said: “In Taiwan, we have this steady evolution of the political atmosphere where reunification under ‘one country, two systems’, or certainly reunification under Chinese terms, is simply unacceptable.”
Referring to anti-establishment Taiwan President Ing, he added: “Say if Tsai Ing-wen wins the election, as it appears likely now, it will simply add to that dynamic.”
Alexander Lukin, an East Asia specialist from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, also told of his worries over the possibility of cross-strait tensions increasing
He said there was “fertile ground” for World War 3 fears because the last major conflict had faded.
He said: “People forget about the war. This is most dangerous.
“We have seen very dangerous signs of it – like the collapse of the arms control treaties.”
The remarks come just a day after tensions between the US and China hit boiling point when a vessel rom Beijing surrounded a ship from Washington in a show of defiance.
READ NOW: South China Sea tensions hit crisis point as Beijing surrounds ship
Speaking on the matter, rear admiral Karl Thomas told The Daily Telegraph: “There is certainly a disagreement in where they think we should sail.”
China has also clashed with Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines over its encroachment into rich fishing grounds and reserves of untapped oil and gas reserves.
Beijing has also been accused of weaponising certain areas with the creation of artificial islands, illustrated by the Fiery Cross Reef.
Off the coast of the Philippines, the area is one of the most heavily fortified by China and now has underground ammunition storage, missile shelters and radar domes.
The Philippines and China both disputed the Scarborough Shoal territory which resulted in a tribunal ruling that the People’s Republic had no historical claim to the land in 2016.
The move to militarise some of the islands in the area was considered a blatant aggression but China has maintained that the move was “purely defensive”.
Despite the earlier clashes between the Philippines and China, the former’s President, Rodrigo Duterte has shifted to a more pro-Beijing stance of late.
Both countries have increased the number of joint military exercises that they have conducted and has even stated “China wants to be friends” with the Philippines. Moreover, Mr Duterte has also welcomed a new wave of Chinese investment amounting to £1.5billion ($2billion) to boost the economy.