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Could US-China tensions escalate?

"It depends on whose marks we count. What happened 9 days ago was that for the first time the foreign minister of China went to a press conference where he gave an extremely gloomy forecast. He basically laid out directly in words the entire geopolitical strategy of China, for to say that it is surrounded directly by the United States, that this is an escalation," geopolitical expert Kristijan Shkvarek commented on the "Day ON AIR" program.

"Practically, this line has been supported by Beijing more and more since Nancy Pelosi landed in Taiwan last year and defiantly said that the US will stand behind Taiwan no matter what happens," the guest also said.

According to Shkvarek, the whole issue revolves around Taiwan, and not for historical and nationalistic reasons that Beijing wants it.

Taiwan buys another $619 million worth of weapons from the US

"Taiwan is a center in the middle, it's a geopolitical key that keeps China in first place. In second place is the chip capital of the world. It produces over 70% of certain chips that are key to all possible technologies. Beijing is having a hard time in the supply of these chips. If it takes Taiwan, Beijing not only opens up geopolitically, it opens its borders to the world's seas. Taiwan is extremely important. Taiwan is much more important to China than Ukraine is to Russia," the geopolitical expert told Bulgaria ON AIR.

Shkvarek believes that it is too early to predict a conflict, but does not rule out absolutely anything.

"Beijing has a window that is open, it will continue to be open for a few more years, decades, but at some point it will close. It must use this window, which is demographic, political, this window is technological. All they think that China will become stronger, it can wait 20 years, but it is not, China has some window that is closing, especially demographically, and so it is quickly trying to open opportunities to use it," said he too.

"What he has done in the Middle East, the way he has put Saudi Arabia and Iran on the table, it is indicative that he is starting to enter the backyard of American foreign policy. This is the reserved place of the Americans. These are all indications of escalation." , Shkvarek said.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, the guest explained that China is pursuing a policy it has officially called "positive neutrality".

"They are trying to take a position from which it will happen that no matter how this war ends, China will be the winner. If the Russians win completely, it is a victory for China, because the West, and specifically the United States, has been humiliated and their prestige was crushed, they could not protect one of their allies, it shakes their alliance network in East Asia. If Russia completely loses this war, it will be so hard pressed that it will become even more dependent on China, it will will be pushed into China's orbit, again a victory for Beijing", commented the guest.

Christian Shkvarek

China-Taiwan tension