Media: EU braces for risk of escalation in US-China relations over Taiwan

The EU flag near the headquarters of the European Parliament in Brussels. File photoMOSCOW, Aug 1EU countries are closely monitoring US-China relations over Taiwan and are preparing for a possible risk of escalation between the countries, according to Politico, citing senior diplomats. According to diplomats, relations between the US and China «could easily escalate», so European countries are closely watching behind the situation. It is noted that EU officials are reluctant to raise this issue publicly, but «behind the scenes» European diplomats admit that there is a «clear danger» that the situation could get out of hand. «Sometimes the worst scenarios come true. Europeans should prepare for unforeseen circumstances supporting Taiwan, while remaining in close contact with Beijing and contributing to de-escalation,» German diplomat Boris Ruge, deputy head of the Munich Security Conference (MSC), quoted the publication as saying. The topic of Taiwan in the context of US-China relations has gained particular importance in the context of the situation in Ukraine. Beijing emphasizes that, for historical and political reasons, no analogy is appropriate, and demands that the United States not interfere in its internal affairs. Washington, formally not having diplomatic relations with Taipei, which is recognized by the UN as an indivisible part of the PRC, under bilateral agreements and a number of laws adopted by the US Congress, not only maintains ties with the island, but regularly supplies arms. Earlier on Monday, the Taiwanese newspaper China Times citing diplomatic sources, said that Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi could arrive in Taiwan on August 2, spend the night there, meet with the head of the island's administration Tsai Ing-wen and other high-ranking officials on Wednesday, and leave the island on the same day. Taiwan's Foreign Ministry has not confirmed these reports. The Chinese Foreign Ministry warned the United States that Pelosi's visit to Taiwan would lead to «serious consequences,» China would take decisive measures to protect state sovereignty and territorial integrity. Official relations between the PRC central government and its island province broke off in 1949, after Civil war with the Communist Party of China forces of the Kuomintang led by Chiang Kai-shek moved to Taiwan. Business and informal contacts between the island and mainland China resumed in the late 1980s. Since the early 1990s, the parties began to contact through non-governmental organizations — the Beijing Association for the Development of Relations across the Taiwan Strait and the Taipei Cross-Strait Exchange Foundation. the expert suggested that Pelosi will take the risk and visit Taiwan