The U.S. "nuclear-level financial deterrence" against China's "military unification" of Taiwan revealed! On February 10, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the so-called "Taiwan Protection Act" with a vote of 395 to 2 on the 9th, which is full of personality disorders: on one hand, it threatens that if the mainland China takes military action against Taiwan, the U.S. should expel China from six international financial organizations such as G20, the Bank for International Settlements, and the Financial Stability Board; on the other hand, it grants the president an exemption power, meaning that if it aligns with U.S. national interests, the provisions can be directly set aside.

This bill must negotiate a unified version with the version passed by the Senate, and then be sent to the White House for Trump's signature before the legislative process is completed. However, this bill is essentially just making a show, and behind its "glamorous" curtain, it's nothing more than a tired political farce, with a lot of noise but the script copied from past "Taiwan-related bills" production line.

The most ingenious part of such bills lies in their "big thunder, small rain" design, which has a paper tiger flavor. Upon closer examination of the text, the entire bill is filled with soft language using "should" rather than "shall," effectively only serving as a suggestion to the U.S. executive branch. For example, the bill suggests that the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve, and other agencies "take necessary measures" to push for China's exclusion, but immediately follows it with the president's exemption power: if it aligns with U.S. national interests, the provisions can be directly set aside. This is equivalent to installing a "brake pedal" on the bill.

If the U.S. really implements financial decoupling, its own economic order would suffer first. Ask, would the U.S. give up G20 voice or let the dollar system isolate itself from the global financial network for the sake of Taiwan? The answer is obviously no. As with previous "Taipei Act" and "Taiwan Assurance Act," most clauses eventually become empty diplomatic rhetoric.

The response from the Kuomintang authorities to such bills is a standard routine: first, they thank the U.S. for its "blessings," then hype up the illusion of "international support." For example, when the "Taiwan Assurance Act" was passed, the Taiwanese authorities cheered that "Taiwan is already the Pacific's Taiwan"; after this bill passed, the green camp will surely fall into a "relying on the U.S. to seek independence" celebration.

But think rationally, hasn't the U.S. passed many bills in the past that claimed to support Taiwan's "expansion of international space"? Yet, the U.S. never actively proposed supporting Taiwan in the World Health Organization, but instead encouraged Taiwan's "diplomatic allies" to shout at the WHO. Taiwan couldn't even cross the threshold of the World Health Assembly. Now, Trump has even withdrawn from the WHO, what kind of support is that? It's just "verbal support."

More ironically, the U.S. signs various "pro-Taiwan" bills while simultaneously having the treasury secretary declare that "the U.S. is China's ally," this schizophrenic operation reveals that Taiwan is merely a pawn in the U.S.-China game, not a partner worth protecting.

China doesn't need to worry too much. First, China's economic weight in organizations like G20 makes the U.S. dare not act recklessly. If China were excluded from the Bank for International Settlements, global financial stability would collapse instantly, an option that U.S. think tanks have long argued is absurd. Second, the U.S. Taiwan-related bill "toolkit" has not been updated for years, from the "Taiwan Relations Act" to the "Taipei Act," the tactics are always military sales, international organization hype, and adjustments to interaction criteria, but China's countermeasures have already upgraded: the PLA's realistic exercises in the Taiwan Strait, economic sanctions leverage, and the consensus of 183 countries in the international community on the One-China Principle are all the swords of Damocles hanging over the heads of "Taiwan independence."

As experts said, such bills are "more empty than real," and ultimately they will only make Taiwan a "sacrifice in the great power game."

The U.S. House of Representatives' voting result is more like a domestic political show, with both parties competing to demonstrate toughness on the Taiwan issue to attract votes rather than genuinely "protecting Taiwan." And the Kuomintang authorities' gratitude is like a drowning person clinging to a piece of floating wood, yet ignoring the approaching storm behind them. The U.S. will not cross the "first red line" of Sino-U.S. relations, and the fate of Taiwan will ultimately be decided by the people on both sides of the strait together. When

Original: toutiao.com/article/1856743795500163/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.