Georgetown University professor Robert Sutter has called on the US government to change its cross-strait policy amid easing tensions between Taiwan and China, saying the situation might prevent the US from achieving its “goal of balance” in the region.
Sutter, a professor at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, made the call in an article titled “Cross-Strait Moderation and the United States — Policy Adjustments Needed” released on Thursday by the Pacific Forum CSIS (Center for Strategic and International Studies).
Although US policy supports President Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) efforts to ease cross-strait tensions through moderation and accommodation, the US may need to reconsider its policy regarding Taiwan and China as a result of the changing power dynamics in the region, Sutter wrote.
In both Taiwan and the US, Sutter said, attention is focused on progress in further easing tensions through Ma's policy of interchange with and reassurance of China.
Rapidly developing cross-strait economic and social contacts are complemented by much slower progress regarding Taiwan’s international profile and the military buildup China continues to direct at Taiwan, he wrote.
The positive US approach to China and US support for Ma's strong efforts to reassure Beijing, however, have not directly addressed changing realities of power and influence regarding Taiwan, he said.
While the US supports Ma’s strong efforts to reach out to China and promote cross-strait stability, China's influence in Taiwan is growing and deepening, Sutter said.
Consultations among policy experts in and out of the US government and recent developments suggest that the longstanding notion of a US-supported balance in the Taiwan Strait is no longer viable in the face of ever-increasing Chinese influence over Taiwan, he said.
Sutter observed that some officials and policy specialists in Washington and Taipei are saying privately that the recent easing of tensions and cross-strait trends support longer-term US interests regarding Taiwan, and they assert that support for those trends should supersede traditional US concern with sustaining a balance of power.
But Sutter said the US government has not yet made such a case effectively and the situation is not well understood by many congressional officials, media and others with an interest in US policy toward Taiwan, who still see US interests based on seeking an appropriate balance that is influenced by the US.
A review of US policy options that takes account of the full implications of China's markedly increased influence over Taiwan along with the perceived benefits of reassuring Beijing in the interest of cross-strait stability is needed, he said.
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