The US may be rethinking the idea that closer cross-strait relations are always preferable, a new academic study says.
Written by Davidson College East Asian politics professor Shelley Rigger and published by the Foreign Policy Research Institute, the study is the latest in a series of articles suggesting that Washington could be shifting its policies.
Rigger contrasts the 2012 Washington visit of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) with her visit earlier this month, saying that on both occasions, Tsai’s “line” on cross-strait relations was not what Beijing wanted to hear.
“However, this year there was no rebuke from Washington,” Rigger said. “The gaps between Tsai’s two visits reflect profound changes in Taiwan and in US-China relations.”
US-Taiwan-China relations continue to evolve rapidly, Rigger said.
Tsai feels “little domestic pressure” to accept the so-called “1992 consensus,” Rigger said, “given that many Taiwanese voters now welcome the possibility that cross-strait interactions might decelerate.”
“Nor is there much evidence that the US is leaning on Tsai to compromise on the issue. Skepticism about China and anxiety about its rise appear to have affected US policy as well as Taiwan’s domestic politics,” she added.
This comes after the Wall Street Journal said US foreign policy has reached a turning point, asserting that analysts from across the political spectrum have started to speak of a need for a “policy of containment” against China.
American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Asian studies director Daniel Blumenthal and AEI research fellow Michael Mazza said that China’s aggression is pushing the South China Sea to a boiling point.
They are calling for a “far more active role” from the US.
National security expert Bill Gertz wrote in the Washington Times that the most senior US intelligence official on China, Paul Heer, recently resigned, saying that he “was known for a steadfast bias that sought to play down the various threats posed by China in favor of more conciliatory views.”
This development, along with the resignation earlier this month of US National Security Council senior China specialist Evan Medeiros — “regarded by critics as among the most pro-China policymakers,” has brought a “more hawkish coalition of officials across several agencies and departments” to power, Gertz wrote.
“Congressional Republicans have said Medeiros was behind the White House decision to deny sales of advanced US F-16 jet fighters to Taiwan,” Gertz wrote.
On top of the South China Sea problems, the US also appears to be furious at what it believes are major cyberattacks from China on US government sites.
During a just-completed, high-profile visit to the US, Chinese Central Military Commission Deputy Chairman General Fan Changlong (范長龍) raised Taiwan-related issues and urged Washington to abide by Beijing’s “one China” policy and to refrain from “sending wrong messages to the forces seeking [Taiwan’s] independence.”
This was a clear reference to Tsai’s successful US tour.
US House of Representatives Armed Services subcommittee on sea power chairman Randy Forbes issued a statement criticizing the administration of US President Barack Obama for allowing Fan’s visit.
“China poses a challenge across a number of areas, from cyberespionage to Beijing’s efforts to undermine the military and political balance in the South China Sea,” the statement said. “Chinese behavior must have consequences and rewarding espionage and artificial island construction with red-carpet treatment only encourages further destabilizing behavior.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS