Forty years of unofficial ties between Taiwan and the US have been marked by a transformed engagement in security, defense, economy, culture and other areas. This became evident at a reception to mark the 40th anniversary of the US’ Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) in Taipei, where former US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan applauded Taiwan as a reliable partner to the US in the Indo-Pacific region and wished that other parts of the world could be more like Taiwan.
With a huge US delegation to commemorate the day, Ryan also said: “Ours is a friendship grounded in history, shared values and our common embrace of democracy, free markets, the rule of law, religious freedom and human rights.”
While the US and China enjoy diplomatic ties, Washington has always focused on strengthening its relationship with Taipei. It was in this context that despite switching diplomatic ties from Taiwan to China, the administration of then-US president Jimmy Carter continued expanding engagements between Washington and Taipei.
Consequently, the US in 1979 crafted the TRA, which says that “the United States will make available to Taiwan such defense articles and defense services in such quantity as may be necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain sufficient self-defense capabilities” and the decision about the nature and quantity of defense services that America will provide to Taiwan is to be determined by the president and the US Congress.
While the following US administrations continued to bolster ties with Taiwan, US President Donald Trump has taken a slew of measures to elevate engagements between Washington and Taipei to a new height.
Apart from political overtures that have been observed between the two sides, including stopovers by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in Los Angeles last year and in Hawaii in March, the Trump administration allowed President Tsai to deliver a political speech in the US, which in many ways was a significant shift in US policy toward Taiwan.
Earlier, President Trump signed the Taiwan Travel Act, clearing the way for visits by high-ranking US officials, such as Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs Deputy Assistant Secretary Alex Wong (黃之瀚), who visited Taipei and met President Tsai.
In February, five Republican senators wrote a letter asking US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi to invite President Tsai to address a joint session of Congress.
More importantly, the Trump administration’s National Security Strategy states that the US “will maintain our strong ties with Taiwan in accordance with our one China policy, including our commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide for Taiwan’s legitimate defense needs and deter coercion.”
It was in this context that President Trump signed the travel act.
In June last year, US Assistant Secretary of State for Education and Cultural Affairs Marie Royce led a delegation to Taiwan for the dedication of the US$255 million American Institute in Taiwan complex.
The Trump administration has twice notified Congress of major foreign military sales to Taiwan, in June 2017 (seven cases valued at US$1.36 billion) and in September last year (a single case valued at $330 million).
In April last year, the US Department of State issued licenses to allow US firms to market technology to Taiwan for its indigenous submarine program, while in March, President Tsai said her government submitted a request to purchase F-16V jets from the US.
Furthermore, the US Navy conducts regular transits of the Taiwan Strait.
One of the reasons for the elevated ties is that presidents Tsai and Trump share strong feelings over China’s imperial motives.
Thus, while Taiwan occupies a vital place in the Trump administration’s Indo-Pacific strategy, which is largely aimed at containing China’s rising clout in the region, Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) assertive posturing against Taiwan has made President Tsai foster strong ties with the US. In fact, the transformed ties with the US could be used by President Tsai as a major foreign policy achievement to secure her re-election.
At the same time, the two sides have shared economic, trade and commerce interests.
While the 40th anniversary of the TRA marked a new high point in the relationship, the time has come for a structural attempt to be made to develop a strong and prospective balance of power against an aspiring imperial power in the region.
Sumit Kumar is a former Ministry of Foreign Affairs visiting fellow at National Chengchi University and a research fellow at Maulana Abul Kalam Azad Institute of Asian Studies in Kolkata, India.
In their recent op-ed “Trump Should Rein In Taiwan” in Foreign Policy magazine, Christopher Chivvis and Stephen Wertheim argued that the US should pressure President William Lai (賴清德) to “tone it down” to de-escalate tensions in the Taiwan Strait — as if Taiwan’s words are more of a threat to peace than Beijing’s actions. It is an old argument dressed up in new concern: that Washington must rein in Taipei to avoid war. However, this narrative gets it backward. Taiwan is not the problem; China is. Calls for a so-called “grand bargain” with Beijing — where the US pressures Taiwan into concessions
The term “assassin’s mace” originates from Chinese folklore, describing a concealed weapon used by a weaker hero to defeat a stronger adversary with an unexpected strike. In more general military parlance, the concept refers to an asymmetric capability that targets a critical vulnerability of an adversary. China has found its modern equivalent of the assassin’s mace with its high-altitude electromagnetic pulse (HEMP) weapons, which are nuclear warheads detonated at a high altitude, emitting intense electromagnetic radiation capable of disabling and destroying electronics. An assassin’s mace weapon possesses two essential characteristics: strategic surprise and the ability to neutralize a core dependency.
Chinese President and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) Chairman Xi Jinping (習近平) said in a politburo speech late last month that his party must protect the “bottom line” to prevent systemic threats. The tone of his address was grave, revealing deep anxieties about China’s current state of affairs. Essentially, what he worries most about is systemic threats to China’s normal development as a country. The US-China trade war has turned white hot: China’s export orders have plummeted, Chinese firms and enterprises are shutting up shop, and local debt risks are mounting daily, causing China’s economy to flag externally and hemorrhage internally. China’s
US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) were born under the sign of Gemini. Geminis are known for their intelligence, creativity, adaptability and flexibility. It is unlikely, then, that the trade conflict between the US and China would escalate into a catastrophic collision. It is more probable that both sides would seek a way to de-escalate, paving the way for a Trump-Xi summit that allows the global economy some breathing room. Practically speaking, China and the US have vulnerabilities, and a prolonged trade war would be damaging for both. In the US, the electoral system means that public opinion
RSS