China, on Friday, 5 August, halted ties with the United States on a range of issues, like climate talks and dialogue between their militaries, Reuters reported.
The catalyst for such a drastic move is the visit to Taiwan by the US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, with Beijing calling it "vicious and provocative."
The announcement comes in the backdrop of the People's Liberation Army conducting military drills surrounding the island.
Earlier in the day, on Friday, the Chinese government announced sanctions against Pelosi and her family members.
On the other hand, Taiwan’s defence ministry claimed on Friday that as of 17.00 local time, 68 planes and 13 warships belonging to the Chinese military had crossed the 'median line' on the Taiwan Strait.
Taipei accused Beijing of seriously damaging the status quo of the Taiwan Strait.
The Communist Party of China considers Taiwan a breakaway province, and President Xi Jinping has clearly said that Taiwan "must and will be" reunited with China.
On the other hand, the US has de facto provided economic and military support to Taiwan for decades under the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979, a clause of which reads, "The United States will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capabilities."
That is why Nancy Pelosi's visit, which is the highest of a US government official in more than 25 years, has angered China to this extent.
Finally, few in Taiwan support its reunification with Mainland China. Taiwanese people simply don’t trust China to keep their promise of granting limited but significant autonomy to Taiwan after the reunification, especially in the context of China's recent policy in Hong Kong.
(With inputs from Reuters and AFP.)
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