Just 11 days before Biden’s inauguration as the new U.S. president on Jan. 20, outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will announce on the 9th that the State Department has lifted all restrictions on U.S.-Taiwan relations. This was immediately met with fierce backlash from the Chinese Communist Party’s official media, the Global Times.
Beijing’s reaction to Pompeo’s visit to Taiwan during his tenure was overwhelming
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo issued a statement saying that the executive branch can now consider all guidelines on Taiwan contacts previously issued by the State Department under the authority of the Secretary of State to be null and void. In response, the Chinese Communist Party’s official media Global Times issued an editorial on October 10 criticizing Pompeo’s “heartlessness” and saying that Pompeo’s “days of being able to dominate U.S. diplomacy are numbered. According to the editorial, Beijing needs to send “a strong signal to the U.S. side that they must hang on to the horse” and “make it clear to both the U.S. side and Taiwan’s DPP authorities that if they dare to let Pompeo visit Taiwan on the eve of the end of his term, Beijing’s response will be overwhelming.”
Taiwan’s side is lukewarm
In response to Beijing’s warning, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council said in writing in the evening, “We have taken note of the biased comments of the Communist Party’s Global Times. The Taiwanese side commented positively and without warmth that this is undoubtedly an important development in Taiwan-U.S. relations and reflects the close relationship between Taiwan and the United States. In addition to expressing its gratitude, the Taiwan presidential office also took into account the feelings of the new U.S. President Joe Biden and reiterated that Taiwan will continue to seek cross-party support from the United States to deepen Taiwan-U.S. relations. The Tsai administration reiterated its basic attitude in handling foreign affairs: “not to give in when under pressure and not to take any risks when receiving support.
Biden’s team is cautious
Taiwan’s Tsai government is cautious, as is the Biden side, which will be officially sworn in as U.S. president on the 20th. Officials on Biden’s transition team said that, as Biden made clear during his campaign, he would follow through on that commitment and on the U.S. commitment to the one-China policy with regard to the Taiwan Relations Act that he voted to pass when he was a U.S. senator. Once in office, Biden will continue to support a peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues in line with the wishes and best interests of the people of Taiwan. He has always believed that the United States must maintain firm, principled and cross-party support for Taiwan, and he plans to work to ensure this.
Ma Ying-jeou: The United States only wants to stimulate the Chinese Communist Party, apparently friendly but actually useless.
For its part, Taiwan’s Kuomintang said: Pro-US is the opinion of most Taiwanese people, and so is the Kuomintang. They look positively at the progress of official relations between the Republic of China and the United States, and also call for more concrete, substantial and sustained bilateral relationship enhancement in addition to symbolic gestures. No flash in the pan, but more substantive policy reciprocity. The pursuit and maintenance of the national interests of the Republic of China is the most fundamental foreign policy guideline, and I hope that Taiwan will not become a bargaining chip in the game between the U.S. and China on either side. Former Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou was more direct in his assessment this time, arguing that the U.S. is only trying to stimulate the Chinese Communist Party, which is superficially friendly and practically useless.
U.S. President Obama’s “U.S.-China Relations”: The U.S. is not concerned with the transition of power
In an interview with the Financial Times, Assistant Secretary of State for Asia and the Pacific David Stilwell says the State Department’s repeal of restrictions on engagement has gone through a lengthy evaluation process and has nothing to do with the transition of power in the United States. Improving engagement guidelines has been one of the goals of close interaction between Taiwan and the United States in recent years, and has not been affected by the U.S. election or other domestic agendas.
As for whether Biden will overturn the restrictions on engagement that Pompeo lifted when he takes office. Some Taiwanese scholars believe that for Biden, these are not the most important issues; currently the U.S. is facing the epidemic and the economy, and if Biden reinstates the restrictions on relations between Taiwan and U.S. officials as soon as he takes office, which is tantamount to self-denigration, he will be attacked by internal U.S. opposition.
The history of Taiwan-US interaction restrictions
The Central News Agency interviewed sources in Taiwan’s foreign affairs department and said, “Over the past few decades, Taiwan has continued to call on the U.S. government to improve its self-imposed restrictions on relations and to avoid unnecessary restrictions that hinder exchanges between the two sides. The U.S. government has reviewed these restrictions in 2001, 2006 and 2015. The now familiar Guidelines on the Relationship with Taiwan were established in 2015 under then-President Barack Obama. The reason for this is that the then Taiwan representative to the U.S., Shen Lu patrol, held a New Year’s Day flag-raising ceremony at Twin Oaks, which drew the displeasure of the U.S. side. At that time, this guideline prohibited the personnel of the representative office in the United States from entering the U.S. State Department building, prohibited the representative office from raising the flag in Twin Oaks Park, and was not allowed to display the flag of the Republic of China in the U.S. government agencies. The U.S. Department of Defense also prohibited Taiwan military personnel who went to the U.S. Military Academy for exchange training from wearing uniforms or displaying the national flag.
During the four years of President Trump‘s administration, U.S.-Taiwan relations have progressed significantly. Upon confirmation of his election, Trump spoke with Tsai Ing-wen by phone, and Taiwan’s former representative to the U.S., Ko Suk-tai, has been able to openly and graciously enter the U.S. State Department to participate in international meetings and take pictures with dozens of representatives from various countries. During the Trump administration, photos of meetings between U.S. and Taiwan officials were often made public on the State Department’s official social media platforms. Taiwan’s National Security Council Secretary General David Lee visited Washington, D.C., in May 2019 to meet with then-U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton. Taiwan Vice President Lai Ching-teh’s visit to the U.S. last year, after his election and before his official inauguration, was seen as a major breakthrough when he visited the State Department and the NSC.
Restrictions on official contacts between Taiwan and the U.S. generally mean that Taiwan diplomats in the U.S. are not allowed to enter the White House or the State Department except under special circumstances. In the past two years, however, the restrictions have been gradually loosened, including Ambassador Xiao Meiqin’s meeting with Shih at the State Department. As a result of these efforts, Taiwan diplomats will be able to interact with the U.S. side in a more dignified manner than diplomats from other countries.
In fact, these unbundling efforts have been called for by members of Congress from both parties, including the Taiwan Travel Act of 2018, which allows and encourages official interactions between Taiwan and the United States. At the end of last year, the Taiwan Reassurance Act, passed with bipartisan support, called on the U.S. government to directly review the State Department’s restrictions on interactions with Taiwan and report regularly to Congress.
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