The U.S. considers China's sanctions to prevent Taiwan from action; Taiwan encourages the EU

September 15, 2022: -The U.S is considering options for a sanctions package against China to deter it from coming to Taiwan, with the European Union coming under diplomatic pressure from Taipei to do the same, according to sources similar to the discussions.

The sources added the deliberations in Washington and Taipei’s separate lobbying of EU envoys were both in response to fears of a Chinese invasion which have grown as military tensions escalate in the Taiwan Strait.

In these cases, the idea is to sanction beyond measures already taken in the West to restrict trade and investment with China in sensitive technologies like computer chips and telecom equipment.

The sources did not give any details of what is considered. Still, the notion of sanctions on the world’s second-largest economy and one of the global supply chain’s most extensive links questions feasibility.

“The potential imposition of sanctions on China is a much more complex exercise than sanctions on Russia, given U.S. and allies’ extensive entanglement with the Chinese economy,” Nazak Nikakhtar said, an ex-senior U.S. Commerce Department official.

China claims Taiwan as its territory. Last month, it fired missiles over the island. It sailed warships all their unofficial sea frontier after U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei in what Beijing is a provocation.

Chinese President Xi Jinping vows to reunify democratically-governed Taiwan with the continent and has not ruled out the use of force. He is securing a third, five-year leadership term at a Communist Party congress in the coming month.

In Washington, officials are considering options for a possible package of sanctions against China to deter Xi to attempt to invade Taiwan, said a U.S. official and an official from a country in coordination with Washington.

The two sources said that U.S. talks over sanctions began after Russia invaded Ukraine but took on fresh urgency following the Chinese reaction to Pelosi’s visit.

The U.S, backed by NATO allies, developed a similar approach to Russia in January with a threat of unspecified sanctions, but this did not succeed in dissuading Russian President Vladimir Putin, who launched his invasion of Ukraine.

The White House is concentrating on getting countries on the same page, which includes coordinating between Europe and Asia and avoiding which provokes Beijing, the non-U.S. official added.

Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry had discussed China’s latest war games and the “great challenges” China poses to Taiwan and the region with the United States, Europe, and different like-minded partners but could not disclose details.