For Chinese and US officials, Taiwan is a major priority

Web Desk

11th Nov, 2022. 08:57 pm
Share
- Listen
- Font size
  - Small
  - Medium
  - Large
- Dark Mode
- Save
- Print

Articles

US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping will discuss Taiwan when they meet next week.
It will be their first face-to-face meeting since Mr. Biden took office in 2020.
Relations between the two nations are currently at an all-time low.

When US President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping meet next week – their first face-to-face meeting since Mr. Biden took office in 2020 – Taiwan is expected to be at the top of the agenda.

The eagerly anticipated encounter will take place at a time when tensions between the two nations are at an all-time low.

Beijing’s assertions regarding Taiwan’s independence and its growing assertiveness in Asia have fueled this.

In response, the US has set restrictions on who can access computer chip technology.

This has hurt China’s export-driven economy, which relies on technology to produce and market products ranging from electric cars to phones.

The discussion that is planned to take place on Monday in Bali before the G20 Summit will be widely watched by the world, as well as America’s Asian allies like India, Japan, and Australia, given the recent surge in tensions and rhetoric.

Mr. Xi spent the majority of the pandemic in China and has only lately started travelling internationally once more.

“I’m sure we’ll discuss Taiwan… and what I want to do with him when we talk is lay out… what each of our red lines are,” Mr. Biden said at a press conference on Thursday after the White House confirmed the meeting.

This way they can “determine whether or not they conflict with one another… and if they do, how to resolve and how to work it out”, he said.

He did add, though, that he was not prepared to “make any fundamental concessions” about US policy toward Taiwan.

The autonomous island is seen as Beijing’s own property that has to be joined to the mainland. Taiwan, however, views itself as unique.

Mr. Biden has consistently stated that the US would defend Taiwan in the case of a Chinese invasion, in contrast to previous US presidents.

The White House, however, has consistently distanced itself from his statements and insisted that Washington’s policy of “strategic ambiguity” — in which it neither commits to nor disavows the possibility of supporting Taiwan — remained unaltered.

State media reported earlier this week that Mr. Xi had instructed the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to “concentrate all attention on fighting a war… and build the potential to win.”

According to reports, Mr. Xi stated that because China was in a “unstable and unclear” position, the army needed to “strengthen military training in preparation for war.”

When US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, tensions spiked. China’s response was to conduct extensive military drills near the island.

National security advisor Jake Sullivan said the goal was to make Taiwan feel “safe and comfortable” about US backing when the White House announced on Thursday that it will brief Taiwan on the outcomes of the Biden-Xi summit.

China’s foreign ministry added that while it wants peace with the US, “the Taiwan question” is at the center of its interests and that the US should cooperate with China to avoid misunderstandings and misinterpretations.

At the Chinese Communist Party congress last month, Mr. Xi reiterated China’s position on Taiwan where they would “never promise to renounce the use of force”.

He said they reserved the option of “taking all measures necessary” if “outside forces” interfered with China’s claims.

Over Taiwan, the US has long straddled a precarious line. The One China policy, according to which Washington recognizes only one Chinese government, in Beijing, and has no formal links with Taiwan, is a pillar of its relationship with Beijing.

The Taiwan Relations Act, which mandates that the US furnish the island with the ability to defend itself, also mandates that it maintain close ties with Taiwan and sell weaponry to it.

For Chinese and US officials, Taiwan is a major priority

Web Desk

Articles