[ad_1]
Taipei, Taiwan- Did the United States and China reach an agreement on Taiwan’s political status?
This question was raised when US President Joe Biden told reporters on Tuesday that he and his Chinese President Xi Jinping. agree “Complying with the Taiwan Agreement” has puzzled many people around the world.
Biden made the above remarks at the White House in response to reporters’ questions about the escalation of tension in the Taiwan Strait. Beijing dispatched more than 150 military planes to Taiwan for three consecutive days. Celebrations At the beginning of the founding of the People’s Republic of China.
On Monday alone, it sent a A record 56 fighter jets Enter the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), forcing the Taiwan Air Force to respond urgently.
When asked about China’s provocative behavior, Biden told reporters: “I have discussed the Taiwan issue with Xi Jinping.” “We agree-we will abide by the Taiwan agreement. This is where we are. We made it clear that I am. Think that he should not do anything other than abide by the agreement.”
The American president seems to be referring to his 90-minute conversation with Xi Jinping on September 9. Although his words seemed to quell fear, it only caused confusion.
Because there is no formal agreement on Taiwan between Beijing and Washington.
Formally known as the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan is an autonomous island about 161 kilometers (100 miles) from the coast of mainland China. It is a democratic country with an independent government and military. But despite Taiwan’s de facto independence, most countries do not consider Taiwan to be an independent country because of China’s claim to the territory.
Once the backwaters of the Chinese Empire, Taiwan was colonized by Japan during the World War. In 1949, Chinese nationalists fled Beijing after failing in a bloody civil war with the communists who established the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in Beijing.
In Taipei, the nationalist government of the Republic of China continues to claim to represent the whole of China and even holds a seat on the UN Security Council. But since 1971, most countries, including the United States, began to abandon their diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China in Taipei and instead support the People’s Republic of China in Beijing.
This historical dispute is the crux of Beijing’s hyped “One China” principle.
Although Beijing has repeatedly threatened that if Taiwan officially declares independence, it will use force, but under the leadership of Xi Jinping, the tense attitude has increased, and he regards the reunification of Taiwan and China as a legacy issue.
Fear of full-scale conflict is growing.
Taiwan’s defense officials have stated that Beijing may be able to fully invade Taiwan by 2025.
Lev Nachman, a postdoctoral researcher at the Fairbanks Center at Harvard University in the United States, said that the Biden administration seems to be taking the tension in the Taiwan Strait seriously. But when it comes to the Taiwan agreement, the President of the United States may just be wrong, he said.
“The confusing thing is that there is no such thing as the’Taiwan Agreement,’ let alone any agreement on anything related to Taiwan,” Nakhman said. But “it is frustrating that the language is not completely accurate when it really should be done,” he added.
‘Strategic ambiguity’
This is the second time that Biden has caused chaos in US policy toward Taiwan.
In March of this year, when asked about the United States’ commitment to Asia-Pacific allies after the decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, Biden seemed to imply that if Taiwan was attacked by China, the United States would defend Taiwan.
“They are… we reached an agreement with these entities, not based on their civil war on that island or South Korea, but based on their agreement to have a coalition government. In fact, this government tried to keep the bad guys from doing things to them. Bad things,” he said.
“We have made and kept every promise. We have made a sacred promise to Article 5. If in fact someone wants to invade or take action against our NATO allies, we will respond. This is the case in Japan, this is the case in South Korea, and this is the case in Taiwan. So. None of these are comparable.”
The White House officials had to clarify later that the United States does not have a formal defense treaty with Taiwan, but does have with South Korea and Japan.
What the U.S. really has is a “strategic ambiguity” policy Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.
The bill passed after Washington withdrew its diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China in favor of the People’s Republic of China still requires the United States to “maintain and promote extensive, close, and friendly commercial, cultural, and other relations between the American people and the American people.” Taiwanese”.
The statement pointed out that the decision of the United States to establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China is “based on the expectation that Taiwan’s future will be determined by peaceful means”, and that the United States will consider any efforts to “determine Taiwan’s future by means other than peaceful means.” , Including boycotts or embargoes,” pose a threat to peace and security in the Western Pacific region.
The legislation further requires the United States to “provide Taiwan with a number of defense goods and defense services that may be needed so that Taiwan can maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities.”
In complex diplomatic dances involving China, Taiwan, and the United States, even the smallest choice of actions or wording can be significant.
Take “One China” as an example. This means different things for Beijing and Washington.
The former has only “one China” and is ruled by Beijing-this is its excuse for claiming that Taiwan is only a province of the mainland and not an independent country.
However, for the United States, “One China” is even more vague.
“Our’One China’ policy *is not* Beijing’s’One China’ principle, even though the latter insists it is,” said Jessica Delun, an expert on cross-strait relations and a non-resident of the Arlington Think Tank, at the Project 49 Institute. Zhou wrote on Twitter. “The official position of the United States is that Taiwan’s status has not yet been determined.”
One China and one China
After the passage of the “Taiwan Relations Act,” the United States prohibited high-level contacts between the governments of the two countries and limited its support to Taiwan to regular arms sales.
But as tensions with China have intensified in recent years, the administration of former President Donald Trump has increased its support for Taiwan, approving approximately US$5.1 billion in arms sales in 2020 alone, and authorizing high-level officials to visit Taipei.
The Biden administration continued and strengthened the policies of the Trump era.
Wall Street Journal Thursday Report About two dozen U.S. soldiers have been training Taiwan’s ground and sea forces for “at least a year”.
The Pentagon did not confirm or deny the report.
Pentagon spokesman John Supp said in a statement: “Our support for Taiwan and defense relations remain consistent with the current threat posed by the People’s Republic of China.”
At the same time, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price told reporters on Thursday that the U.S. commitment to Taiwan is “solid as a rock.”
Many commentators believe that if Taiwan is attacked by China, the United States will automatically protect Taiwan, even if it is not formally stipulated in any treaty.
Austin Wang, assistant professor of political science at the University of Nevada in Las Vegas, said that Taiwanese people seem to be divided on Biden’s remarks on the “Taiwan Agreement”, depending on their political leanings towards the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). A vision of Taiwan that is different from China, or a more friendly Kuomintang (KMT).
The Kuomintang is known for promoting closer economic ties with China and is supported by large Taiwanese companies. However, the more conservative factions of the Kuomintang continue to call for reunification, although this view is now inconsistent with mainstream Taiwanese society.
Wang said that supporters of the Pro-DPP seem to be indifferent to Biden, while those who are partial to the KMT are more suspicious of the US president’s intentions towards Taiwan.
“They think that Biden’s’Taiwan Agreement’ is another piece of evidence that Taiwan is just a pawn on the chessboard, showing that Taiwan has no say in its own future, because the agreement is only an agreement between Xi and Biden,” he said .
“Furthermore, Biden mentioned that his conversation with Xi Jinping took place last month, but the people in Taiwan have witnessed a sharp increase in invasions this week. Therefore, this conversation seems to have no impact on the stability of the Taiwan Strait, or even a negative impact.”
[ad_2]
Source link