The United States no longer sees Taiwan as an issue in U.S.-China relations, but rather as an opportunity in the effort to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, a senior U.S. official said Thursday (June 24).
Raymond Greene, deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) office in Taipei, said in a speech Thursday in Taipei that when he first worked there almost two decades ago, all issues would return to cross-strait relations and how Taiwan could fit into the bigger picture of U.S.-China relations.
Because Beijing insists that Taiwan is part of China and that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait must be reunited even if force is resorted to, the United States, like the vast majority of countries around the world, maintains formal diplomatic relations with Beijing on the one hand and unofficial relations with Taiwan on the other. The AIT is the official white glove for U.S.-Taiwan relations, while the AIT office in Taipei plays the role of a U.S. embassy abroad.
But for the past three years the U.S. and Taiwan have been fully focused on how to cooperate in assisting other countries to develop their economies and improve their democratic systems, Gu Liyan said in his speech.
“I’ve lost track of the number of meetings I’ve had with our Taiwan partners along with the director where the word ‘China’ has not come up at all,” Gu Liyan said.
“This reflects a fundamental change in the U.S.-Taiwan relationship.”
Gu Liyan is a career diplomat and senior official at the U.S. State Department. He traveled to Taiwan in June 2018 as deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan office in Taipei to assist Director Brent Christensen in promoting U.S.-Taiwan relations. Both Gu Liyan and Li will be leaving Taiwan at the end of their terms. Gu will fly from Taiwan to Tokyo next week to serve as acting U.S. ambassador to Japan.
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Wu Chiu-sup presented the Special Diplomacy Medal to Li Yingjie and the Goodwill Diplomacy Medal to Gu Liyan at a ceremony at the Taipei Hotel on Thursday in recognition of their contributions to promoting U.S.-Taiwan relations during their terms of office.
In his speech Thursday, Gu emphasized that “the United States no longer sees Taiwan as a ‘problem’ in our relationship with China; we see Taiwan as an opportunity to build a common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific, and we see Taiwan as a beacon for the people of a more just, secure, prosperous and democratic world around the globe. We see Taiwan as a beacon of light in the global struggle for a more just, secure, prosperous and democratic world.”
China views Taiwan as its core interest and insists that it is the most complex and sensitive issue in the U.S.-China relationship. In recent months, Chinese military aircraft have often flown over the centerline of the Taiwan Strait or intruded into Taiwan’s air defense identification zone to increase military pressure on Taiwan.
China has repeatedly stated that it will apply the “one country, two systems” policy used in Hong Kong to Taiwan, but leaving aside the grim reality that “one country, two systems” in Hong Kong is becoming more and more like “one country, one system. But leaving aside the grim reality that “one country, two systems” is becoming more and more like “one country, one system” in Hong Kong, the Taiwanese government and public never seem to be interested in China’s so-called “one country, two systems.
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