Warplanes of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conduct operations during joint combat training exercises around the Taiwan Island, Aug. 7, 2022. The Eastern Theater Command continued its joint combat training exercises as scheduled on Sunday in the waters and airspace around the Taiwan Island. Photo: Xinhua

Two US cruisers sailed through the Taiwan Straits on Sunday, the first such operation since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's illicit visit to the island of Taiwan. The US Navy's operation comes some time after the People's Liberation Army (PLA)'s large-scale military drills around the island, and the US has been emphasizing that it would "not take the bait" of the PLA's exercises, trying to avoid the impression of confrontation with the PLA in the Taiwan Straits. 

But their action today is still a new provocation. In my opinion, the US is trying to appease the Taiwan authorities and regional allies, conveying to them that Washington will not back down under military pressure from the Chinese mainland. 

Since 2012, US warships have transited through the Taiwan Straits nearly 100 times. It has become a routine performance for the US to send provocative signals to the Chinese mainland and encourage the Taiwan authorities by doing so. But this show has had a diminishing effect. Now every time a US warship transits through the Taiwan Straits, the PLA warship will follow and monitor it, which has become the usual scenario in the game between the two sides.

It should be noted that it is no longer possible for the US to produce any deterrence against the Chinese mainland by sending warships through the Taiwan Straits, and the effect in emboldening the Taiwan authorities is getting smaller and smaller. Its practical impact on the mainland is that we are constantly reminded that the US is a very unfriendly and obstructive force to China's reunification and that we need to give up our illusions. The Taiwan question is a long-term game between China and the US, and the only language the US understands and is willing to respect is strength. The Taiwan question must eventually be resolved, and this question has become the biggest trigger for external forces to undermine China's rise.

The author is former editor-in-chief of the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn