Posted in International

A banquet list reveals the mystery of the U.S. has focused on the 2024 Taiwan presidential election?

 2021年4月24日

Tsai Ing-wen hosted a delegation from Todd on April 15 to exchange views on the regional situation. (Photo taken from Tsai’s Facebook page)

Biden sent former U.S. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT) to lead a delegation to Taiwan on April 14, and President Tsai Ing-wen hosted his senior delegation at his official residence on April 15.

Fan Shih-ping posted on Facebook yesterday (24th) with the title “Is the US starting to pay attention to Taiwan’s presidential election in 2024?” The article is titled “The U.S. is starting to pay attention to the 2024 presidential election in Taiwan?”, and the 8-point analysis of the guest list of the official residence dinner shows that Todd’s trip has a strong political flavor, with the following arguments.

  1. Todd, who came to Taiwan for a three-day visit on April 14 at the request of his old friend Joe Biden, is Biden’s “special envoy.
  2. Tsai Ing-wen hosted members of Todd’s delegation at her official residence on the evening of the 15th, with Taiwan’s attendees including Lai Ching-de, Presidential Secretary General David Lee, NSC Secretary General Gu Li-hsiung, Foreign Minister Wu Chiu-sup, Executive Yuan Councilor Deng Zhen-zhong and Defense Minister Qiu Guo-zheng.
  3. Qiu’s participation showed that the theme of the dinner was Taiwan-U.S. military cooperation and Taiwan’s national defense security; Deng Zhenzhong’s participation showed that the TIFA and BTA negotiations between Taiwan and the U.S. are being actively promoted, as Deng is responsible for foreign trade negotiations.
  4. On September 18 last year, Tsai Ing-wen also hosted a dinner at her official residence for visiting Under Secretary of State Clark, when our attendees were Gu Lixiong, Wu Chiu-sup, Deng Zhenzhong, as well as TSMC founder Zhang Zhongmou, Executive Yuan Vice President Shen Rongjin, and Economic Minister Wang Meihua. Shen is the former Minister of Economic Affairs and Wang is the current one, highlighting that the main focus of this dinner is Taiwan-US trade and technology.
  5. The attendance of Zhang Zhongmou is certainly related to Taiwan’s semiconductor technology and TSMC’s establishment of a factory in the U.S., but whether Zhang was invited by Tsai Ing-wen or requested by the U.S. side, perhaps the latter is more of an element.

On August 11 last year, on behalf of Tsai Ing-wen, Lai Ching-te hosted a banquet for visiting U.S. Secretary of Health Azar, attended by Gu Lixiong, Wu Chiu-sup, Wang Meihua, former Vice President Chen Chien-jen, and Health Minister Chen Shih-chung.

  1. Last year, when two senior U.S. officials came to Taiwan for a banquet at the presidential palace, neither Tsai Ing-wen nor Lai Ching-teh shared the stage, but this time Todd came to Taiwan and shared the stage. Outsiders must be curious whether Tsai invited Lai to attend or the U.S. side requested it. If it is the former, it means that Tsai wants to introduce Lai to the U.S. envoy or even Biden; if it is the latter, it means that the U.S. is interested in Lai, the future star of Taiwan’s politics, especially Lai is also a possible candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
  2. Don’t forget that when Lai Ching-teh was the executive dean, he said publicly that he was a pragmatic political worker for Taiwan independence; and Todd asked the KMT’s Chiang Wan-an and Chen Yixin in the afternoon of the 15th when they had a discussion with the various party members, what the KMT’s “1992 Consensus” position was, showing that Todd’s trip had a strong political flavor, and that the US was The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you want to do.