Former vice president Lien Chan (連戰) met Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) at the APEC leaders’ summit in Lima on Friday. APEC is one of a handful of international bodies of which Taiwan is an official member and this was the first time such senior Taiwanese and Chinese leaders met at one of its summits. The meeting was symbolic for both sides, but nothing more than that.
Although the meeting was an indication of reduced cross-strait tension, Taiwan should not rush to celebrate. In no way does it mean that China is willing to recognize Taiwan’s sovereignty, or that Taiwan can now deal with China on an equal footing internationally. Beijing’s leadership saw the meeting as one between friends that had nothing to do with Taiwan’s international status.
China’s treatment of the Lien-Hu meeting was molded by political considerations. Although the meeting took place at the APEC summit, the arrangements differed from the bilateral meetings between leaders of other APEC members. Xinhua news agency, for example, never once mentioned Hu’s status as Chinese president, referring to him instead as Chinese Communist Party general secretary, while Lien was called honorary chairman of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), thereby avoiding portraying the meeting as one between China’s president and the representative of Taiwan’s top leader. China’s foreign minister did not accompany Hu for the Lien meeting. Instead, Wang Yi (王毅), head of the Taiwan Affairs Office, was flown over, to emphasize that it was a party-to-party, not a state-to-state meeting.
Both Lien and Hu described the meeting as one between old friends. Speaking of Hu in flattering terms, Lien scarcely mentioned the things Taiwanese really want from China — peace, equality, dignity and prosperity. Nothing important was discussed and the meeting served no practical purpose.
Although US President George W. Bush is a lame duck leader, he is still the head of a great power. Diplomacy therefore required that he hold a bilateral meeting with Hu. The two did not depart from the standpoints they have held at past meetings. Hu reminded Bush that the Taiwan question is a vital matter for Beijing and remains the most important and sensitive aspect of China-US relations. He also stressed that his government would never depart from its “one China” stance. Bush reiterated that the US maintains a “one China” policy guided by the Taiwan Relations Act and the three US-China joint declarations. He also urged China to talk to the Dalai Lama, and once more expressed his commitment to religious freedom. Although there are many issues on which Bush and Hu do not formally agree, at least they are willing to exchange views and expound their positions on an equal footing.
No great practical results were to be expected from Hu’s meetings with either Lien or Bush, but his meeting with Bush was a dialog between equals, while that with Lien was an exercise in control through conciliation. Although the Lima summit was the first at which Taiwan has been represented by such a senior figure as a former vice president, and although he managed to meet the Chinese president, this shows only that China is taking a more flexible approach in its dealings with Taiwan. It does not signify any change in Beijing’s “one China” policy. Taiwan should not allow the APEC meeting to lull it into a false sense of security.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
RSS