Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen speaks during a meeting with former U.S. Senator Dodd in Taipei. (April 15, 2021)
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen received a four-member delegation of former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, two former U.S. Under Secretaries of State Richard Armitage and James Steinberg, and U.S. State Department Taiwan Coordination Director Dan Biers on Thursday (April 15) morning. In the evening, she hosted a banquet for the delegation at her residence.
In her remarks, Tsai said this is the first time since President Joe Biden took office that a delegation has visited Taiwan, demonstrating the continuing deepening partnership between Taiwan and the United States. She said the State Department’s announcement last week of new “Guidelines for Engagement with Taiwan” and the signing last month of the “Memorandum of Understanding for the Maritime Patrol Working Group” demonstrate the substantial progress in U.S.-Taiwan relations.
She also thanked the Biden administration for reiterating the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and noted that China’s recent frequent dispatch of warships and military aircraft to conduct military activities in the surrounding air and sea space has not only changed the status quo in the Indo-Pacific region, but also threatened regional peace and stability.
The U.S. and Taiwan work together to resist China’s advances
As an active contributor to the international community, Taiwan is more than willing to work with like-minded countries, including the United States, to safeguard stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific region and to discourage aggressive and provocative behavior,” Tsai said.
In addition, President Tsai said she also looks forward to the resumption of the TIFA (Trade and Investment Framework Agreement) dialogue between the U.S. and Taiwan as soon as possible, and to long-term cooperation in the development of green energy, response to disinformation and cognitive warfare.
In response, former U.S. Senator Dodd said that this year marks the 42nd anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act, and that the mission’s visit is primarily on the order of President Biden to reaffirm the U.S. commitment to Taiwan and to deepen the many common interests and bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and Taiwan.
Dodd said the Biden administration is committed to assisting Taiwan in expanding its international space and self-defense. The importance of the Taiwan Relations Act has been particularly evident over the past year,” he said. I can say with confidence that the U.S.-Taiwan relationship is at its strongest now. The U.S. and Taiwan have close economic and trade ties, are equally committed to democratic values, and share a vital security partnership.”
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen meets in Taipei with the first high-level U.S. delegation to visit Taiwan since the Biden administration took office. (April 15, 2021)
U.S. and China Seek Climate Cooperation
Meanwhile, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry was also in Shanghai on Thursday for his meeting with Xie Zhenhua, the Chinese Communist Party’s special envoy for climate change affairs, and other officials.
Before his trip, Kerry said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday (April 13), “The Biden administration is trying to negotiate a deal with the Chinese Communist Party on climate change, but it will not compromise on economic issues or human rights issues.”
Chinese security guards stand guard outside the gates of the Dongjiao Hotel in Shanghai, where U.S. climate envoy John Kerry is staying. (April 15, 2021)
Two scholars interviewed by the Voice of America said that President Biden’s sending of the first two delegations to the two sides of the Taiwan Strait is a “new normal” or “three-in-one: cooperation, competition, confrontation” development strategy that the U.S. is shaping for the Chinese region, including China “.
Through simultaneous missions to Shanghai and Taipei, Jean-Pierre Cabestan, professor of politics and international relations at Hong Kong Baptist University, told Voice of America, “The Biden administration is trying to reinforce the so-called new normal relationship with the Chinese world, including China.”
U.S.-China New Normal Relationship
Gao Jingwen said that President Biden’s use of Kerry’s envoy to seek cooperation from the Chinese Communist Party on climate change is another “draw” and re-engagement between the two powers after they “played all their trump cards” at the Alaska talks in mid-March, because The two countries have the will and the need to cooperate on many issues such as climate change.
I believe that Special Envoy Kerry will take a message from President Biden to remind the Chinese Communist Party of the conditions and premises under which the U.S. will continue to engage with the Chinese Communist Party,” said Gao Jingwen. In other words, the United States has not completely abandoned its engagement policy, only that future engagement with China will be more selective. The U.S. and China are unlikely to stop interacting and must work together as much as possible, not only on climate change issues, but also on Iran, North Korea, and the joint fight against the new crown epidemic. However, on many other issues, the two countries also have to respect their differences, and there may be confrontation and even competition in the future.”
Gao Jingwen said the United States has demonstrated an uncompromising stance on democracy and human rights issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang. Therefore, he agreed with the speculation of some private citizens that Kerry’s envoy will clearly convey to China the U.S. demand of “no use of force against Taiwan and peaceful resolution of cross-strait disputes.
According to the Free Times, Guo Wengui, a Chinese tycoon in exile in the United States, recently broke the news that Kerry will convey to the Chinese side three major demands of the Biden administration, including: first, no use of force against Taiwan; second, Hong Kong’s original electoral system must be restored and the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration must be respected; and third, the truth must be told about the origin of the new epidemic.
China’s Quest for “Equality”
However, the Biden administration’s pursuit of a “new normal” relationship may be different from the “even keel” great power relationship pursued by Chinese Communist Party President Xi Jinping.
Gao Jingwen said that Xi’s new normal on Taiwan is to continue to attack and scare the country with a civilian approach, hoping to one day subdue and unify Taiwan. He said the Chinese Communist Party is playing a two-pronged strategy with Taiwan, sending the PLA to train and fight a war of attrition against Taiwan’s military on the one hand, and drawing in Taiwan’s internal political and social elites, as well as young people, to strengthen the united front on the other.
Although Beijing understands that its military intimidation is not only counterproductive, but also intensifies the anti-China sentiment of the majority of Taiwanese people, and triggers the side effects of the U.S. alliance with other democratic countries to fight against China, including Japan, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) takes shape, or convinces France, Britain and Germany to send warships to defend the South China Sea. But Gao Jingwen said Beijing “has no other choice” in the face of Taiwan’s growing distance from the goal of reunification or “one country, two systems.
In response to the latest developments in U.S.-China relations, Huang Jiezheng, an associate professor at the Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies at Tamkang University in Taipei, described the situation as “three in one.
U.S.-China Relations “Three in One”
Huang Jiezheng, a professor at the Institute of Strategic Studies at Tamkang University in Taiwan
Huang told Voice of America, “The U.S. relationship with mainland China now is basically a ‘three-in-one’ relationship, meaning that it cooperates when possible, competes when it should, and is hostile when necessary.”
He believes that although the U.S. and China went toe-to-toe in the Alaska talks, behind closed doors, the inevitable conclusion was reached. That is, the two sides have to start a dialogue with substance on topics where there is consensus on common interests, so Kerry’s trip to Shanghai this week is to show the relationship between the two countries on the cooperation-oriented.
However, Huang said, in the White House National Security Council Indo-Pacific coordinator Kurt Campbell clever arrangements, President Biden sent his close friends Kerry and Dodd to visit both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the two, although Dodd does not have an official status, but the two are the same Biden’s former colleagues in the Senate, deeply trusted by Biden, also arrived in Shanghai and Taipei almost at the same time.
According to Associate Professor Huang, the U.S., through Dodd’s visit to Taiwan, aims to “encourage Taiwan’s democracy, affirm Taiwan’s strategic role in the first island chain in the Western Pacific, and at the same time, help give Taiwan a boost and give Taiwan more confidence and strength in the face of the imbalance in cross-strait relations, in order to seek peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. He said it was a beautifully designed diplomatic maneuver.
China’s military provocations continue
Dodd and his delegation’s visit to Taiwan triggered a stern protest against the U.S. by the Chinese Communist Party’s Taiwan Affairs Office and the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, even before the visiting delegation arrived in Taiwan, when the Communist Party sent 25 communist aircraft to violate Taiwan’s southwest air defense identification zone (ADIZ) on Monday (April 12). According to the ROC military, this is not only the 10th consecutive day of disturbance to Taiwan since April 3, but also the largest number of aircraft since Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense began announcing the dynamics of CCP military aircraft.
In response, Associate Professor Huang believes that this is to be expected. He said, “The Chinese mainland also knows that no matter how much they jump the gun, it is impossible to change the reality of the U.S.’ continued engagement with Taiwan, but they have to take their attitude.”
Speaking at a regular press briefing on Wednesday (April 14), Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said the signal released by the Communist military’s relevant military exercises and training operations is that “our determination to contain ‘Taiwan independence’ and Taiwan-U.S. collusion is not just lip service.”
Although the Communist forces did not discharge military aircraft to disturb Taiwan on the day the U.S. delegation arrived in Shanghai and Taipei on Wednesday, the provocative actions of the Communist forces continued. China’s Maritime Affairs Bureau issued a message on Thursday (April 15) that the Communist forces will conduct live-fire drills on the Nanpeng Islands near the Taiwan Strait from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day for six days from April 15-20.
In this regard, Taiwan’s Defense Minister Qiu Guozheng said before the Legislative Yuan to prepare for the debate, Taiwan’s national army continues to pay attention to the Chinese Communist military exercises, to grasp the information.
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