WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised his eyebrows on Monday, telling reporters that the United States “does not support Taiwan independence” after a meeting in Beijing with officials including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Blinken’s statement ruffled the feathers of many Republicans in Congress, who viewed the statement—and the secretary’s inability to reestablish communications between the troops—as an inappropriate nod to America’s best adversary.
“Blinken flew to communist China to appease Xi Jinping and state that the Biden administration does not support Taiwan independence.” – Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) he said on Twitter. “Why doesn’t this administration arise to oppressors and arise for freedom?”
The Taiwan issue is one among the most contentious in US-China relations, and Xi has made Taiwan’s “reunification” with China the #1 priority – although the island, about 100 miles off the country’s southeast coast, has never been a component of it. .
Representative Ben Cline (R-Va.) tweeted that Blinken’s statement was “a dangerous display of weakness towards our opponents on the world stage.”
“Biden’s administrator gives China the green light to extend intimidation of our ally Taiwan,” he said.
Taiwan, nevertheless, is not a proper ally of the United States – though the Biden administration has repeatedly said that the United States will arise for the self-governing, democratic island if China attacks.
As a substitute, the United States professes the so-called “One China Policy”, which does not take a proper position on Taiwan’s sovereignty status.
What’s the One China Policy?
Washington’s “One China Policy”, which has been crucial to maintaining peace in East Asia because it got here into force in the late Seventies, assumes that the US recognizes – though does not necessarily agree with – Beijing’s view that Taiwan is its sovereign territory.
As a substitute, the policy maintains that the U.S. considers Taiwan’s sovereignty status uncertain, and successive presidential administrations have maintained that the U.S. is not in favor of fixing the “established order” of China-Taiwan relations.
Nonetheless, the US also allows its troops to come back to defend Taiwan should Beijing try to take Taiwan by force, something each the Trump and Biden administrations have repeatedly said as tensions between the US and China began to heat up in 2016.
What’s China’s position?
Unlike the American One China Policy, Beijing adheres to its “One China Principle”.
Although the names sound similar, there may be one significant difference: the One China principle states that there is just one nation of China, and Taiwan is an element of it.
As odd because it could appear, the Chinese rule takes a firm stance on the status of the island, unlike US policy.
Beijing believes in “one country, two systems,” meaning that Taiwan and other autonomous areas that China claims could have a separate system of presidency, but are still a part of China.
China recurrently claims that the US has violated the One China Principle – without mentioning the significant differences between US policy and the China Principle.
Is Blinken’s stance on Taiwan recent?
America has never formally endorsed Taiwanese independence, so Blinken’s comments come as no surprise to those that closely follow Washington-Beijing relations.
While Beijing says the US supports the island’s independence with every senior official who visits Taipei, Washington believes the current ambiguity in Taiwan-China relations must be maintained.
Nonetheless, the One China Policy continues to evolve with the competition between China and the United States.
Will the US arise for Taiwan?
Although the United States, through its One China policy, believes in maintaining the established order, the Federal Taiwan Relations Act of 1979 states that the United States will come to Taipei’s aid if China uses military intervention to force the island to give up.
“We remain against any unilateral changes to the established order by either side,” Blinken said. “We’re committed to continuing our responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act, including ensuring that Taiwan has the capability to defend itself.”
To that end, Congress is pressuring the Pentagon to prioritize sending Taiwanese military aid ahead of potential conflict.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last month said the Pentagon was working to provide the island with weapons, using a part of the $1 billion that lawmakers allocated last yr for defense systems for Taipei’s army.
Still, the arms packages are supposed to act as a deterrent to maintain China from attacking Taiwan, as Blinken said the US “continues to[s] expect a peaceful resolution of the cross [Taiwan] Differences in the strait.
What might be next?
Members of the House of Representatives’ bipartisan subcommittee on Combating the Communist Party of China released a “Ten for Taiwan” report last month outlining policies that lawmakers should consider to push China back.
Partly, it says the US should pass laws that would define its official position more directly.
“[T]America, along with its allies and partners, should publicly oppose any attempt by the CCP to resolve the issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty status by deliberately abusing, misinterpreting, and misleading others about the underlying purpose of … the United States’ One China Policy.” the subcommittee said in its report.
“America and its allies must strengthen and higher coordinate collective planning on the best way to contain or respond diplomatically and economically to the crisis surrounding Taiwan.”