As China Puts Pressure on Taiwan, Signs of a U.S. Pushback

As China Puts Pressure on Taiwan, Signs of a U.S. Pushback
The development was initially reported by Taiwanese, mainland Chinese
and Hong Kong news media as a decision to move a big annual military contracting conference from the United States to Taiwan, potentially triggering a further chasm between Beijing and the United States.
The president has long had the authority to order port calls and dispatch senior officials, so both measures are somewhat symbolic
but nonetheless irritate China, said Richard C. Bush, a former head of the American Institute in Taiwan, which handles the United States government’s contacts with the island.
Global Times, a nationalistic, Beijing-controlled newspaper, said earlier this month, "If any U.S. high-level official pays an official visit to Taiwan, Beijing will treat it as severe provocation
and adopt all possible countermeasures, including uniting Taiwan by military force." President Xi Jinping has put more emphasis than his recent predecessors on China’s goal of eventual political unification of Taiwan with the mainland.
Chinese officials are showing signs of annoyance, and raising accusations
that the United States is interfering in what Beijing considers one of its redline issues.
They will discuss a proposal by President Tsai to develop Taiwan’s components industry by selling more parts to military contractors,
said Rupert Hammond-Chambers, the president of the United States-Taiwan Business Council, the host of the event.
"By ensuring they have the ability to defend themselves, Taiwan will continue to be an important part of promoting regional stability." President Trump signed separate legislation in December, bitterly opposed by Beijing,
that included a provision encouraging mutual port calls by naval vessels from Taiwan and the United States.