Editor's note: Hamzah Rifaat Hussain, a former visiting fellow at the Stimson Center in Washington and former assistant researcher at the Islamabad Policy Research Institute, is a TV anchor at Indus News in Pakistan. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily those of CGTN.

U.S. President Joe Biden is sending a defense delegation consisting of senior and former officials to China's Taiwan region as a sign of support, according to an official of his administration. This latest move is a grand example of provocative behavior by the U.S., which has continuously exposed its foreign policy failings.

It seems as if the Biden administration has not learned from previous blunders while devising defense strategies against other sovereign countries. As the Ukraine crisis of 2022 simmers and U.S. mishandling of the crisis remains in the spotlight, the decision to send a defense delegation to the Taiwan region is yet another attempt by Washington to tinker with China's sovereignty, despite repeated calls to refrain from such policies. By opting for provocations once again, U.S. foreign policy lays exposed.

Firstly, the Biden administration's defense delegation to Taiwan consists of one-time Chairman of the Joints Chief of Staff Mike Mullen, who had characterized wars such as World War II as wars of "attrition," where reduction in the adversary's capacity would ensure victory.

Mullen will be accompanied by Meghan O. Sullivan, former deputy national security advisor under the George W. Bush administration, and Michele Flournoy, former undersecretary of defense under the Barack Obama administration, who had advised President Obama to militarily intervene in Libya. The 2011 military intervention in Libya resulted in nothing but chaos, destitution and terrorism in the country for years.

By nominating names associated with defense strategies of the Bush and the Obama doctrines, the Biden administration has made it clear that strategies promoting secession will be tabled during talks in Taiwan. That itself is a provocation.

The timing of this defense delegation trip is also controversial. Taipei has claimed that the arrival of the delegation, coinciding with the Ukraine crisis, demonstrates that its ties with the U.S. are rock solid.

Perhaps it is worthwhile to hark back into history as to how the U.S., through its series of dictations, prevented a diplomatic resolution to the Ukraine crisis, or how discredited former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is notorious for peddling conspiracy theories while promoting a divisive and polarizing foreign policy, is also scheduled to visit Taiwan, though his visit bears no official significance. His trip is simply unwarranted, given that provocative speeches from a private citizen on Chinese territory expose underlining agendas of respective American administrations of promoting secessionism, which was a glaring feature of the Trump era. The Biden administration has decided to follow suit on Taiwan.

Senior officials have also made it clear that the defense delegation will provide "robust support" to the Taiwan region against the Chinese mainland. "Robust support" has not been properly defined, however, where the term could entail arms sales, overt weaponization, naval militarization or force mobilization. It emphasizes on American security umbrellas provided to Taiwan, which goes against the one-China principle, which the Biden administration had earlier adhered to.

This visit also comes days after the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson sailed through the Taiwan Straits, which is an indication that armed vessels navigating the region upon the premise of promoting so-called freedom pose a direct threat to regional security and state sovereignty.

Coupled with this are defense delegations which have a history of charting out controversial military strategies, which has only fomented conflict, discord and resistance. All this characterizes the Biden administration's strategy on Taiwan.

It is high time for such policies to be called out as gross interference in the internal affairs of China. The defense policies continue to hinge on strategic ambiguity where Washington deliberately keeps discreet as to whether the Taiwan region will be defended militarily against the Chinese mainland, which heightens the risk of miscalculations.

Strategic ambiguity, as a policy, is adopted by states which wish to pursue nefarious designs against sovereign states, and the Biden administration's tilt toward Taiwan can be characterized as such. China's repeated offers of dialogue, de-escalation and disarmament have fallen on deaf ears despite great potential in improving the relationship. Yet there continues to be an attempt to tap into sovereign issues such as Taiwan to the detriment of peace, which acts as a massive roadblock.

The truth is that the Biden administration's defense delegation will not contribute toward sustainable peace for Taiwan as purported. It will only demonstrate that U.S. foreign policy in the region and beyond has once again gone awry with unjustifiable provocations. 

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