Gordon G. Chang
Newsweek, May 9, 2022
“… the Chinese military has been flying large numbers of planes through the island republic’s air-defense identification zone. Although these flights have stayed in international airspace, they are considered hostile acts…”
Officials from the Chinese finance ministry and central bank on April 22 met with representatives of dozens of banks, including HSBC, to discuss what Beijing could do in the event of the imposition of severe sanctions on China. The finance ministry noted, in the words of the Financial Times, that “all large foreign and domestic banks operating in China” were present.
Participants concluded Beijing could not protect foreign assets, but the holding of the “emergency meeting” is nonetheless ominous. Chinese officials have seen the effect of sanctions imposed on Russia after it launched its “special military operation” in Ukraine in February, and they are planning to weather any such measures applied to their own country.
“The officials and attendees did not mention specific scenarios, but one possible trigger for such sanctions is thought to be a Chinese invasion of Taiwan,” the Financial Times reports. The fact that Chinese officials held the April 22 meeting is the clearest indication yet that some act of aggression is in the works.
Gordon G. Chang is the author of The Coming Collapse of China. Follow him on Twitter: @GordonGChang.
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