New US guidelines expanding official contacts with Taiwan might be a positive step, but Taipei should still try to break down limits on bilateral interactions that stem from Washington’s “one China” policy, foreign affairs analysts said on Saturday.
On Friday, the US Department of State announced that it had issued new guidelines to “liberalize” government contacts with Taiwan, which it said were designed to “encourage engagement ... that reflects our deepening unofficial relationship.”
Although not made public, the guidelines would reportedly allow US officials to meet with their Taiwanese counterparts in US federal buildings and at Taiwanese representative offices in the US, but prohibit them from attending celebrations of Double Ten National Day and other Taiwanese holidays.
Photo: CNA
While these measures constitute “a big difference” from the past, when meetings between US and Taiwanese officials were often informal and low-key, the US’ “one China” policy remains unchanged, said Yen Chen-shen (嚴震生), an adjunct researcher at National Chengchi University’s Institute of International Relations.
Easing limits on official contacts with Taiwan would bolster US President Joe Biden’s position in negotiations with China, Yen said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan must judge the new guidelines based on whether they lead to more high-level contact with the US, or whether they allow US officials to attend events at Taiwan’s Twin Oaks estate in Washington, he said, referring to the former residence of Taiwanese ambassadors to the US, which is now used for official functions.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) said that regardless of the guidelines, Taiwan must continue to push back against “unnecessary” restrictions on interactions with the US, which stem from the US’ “one China” policy.
The move by the US does highlight Taiwan’s increasingly important role, from a political, military and economic standpoint, in the US’ strategic approach to China and the Asia-Pacific region, he said.
Michael Kau (高英茂), who was deputy foreign minister under former DPP president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), said the announcement showed that the US was moving from a position of strategic ambiguity to clarity in its approach to Taiwan, amid the emerging state of “superpower competition” with China.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Deputy Secretary-General Huang Kwei-bo (黃奎博) said the new guidelines were an attempt to expand contacts with Taiwan, while leaving in place restrictions related to sensitive issues, such as sovereignty.
This two-pronged approach reflects Washington’s desire to strengthen ties with Taipei, but in a way that does not act as a barrier to relations with China, he said.
While Taiwan welcomed the changes, it is unclear how much of a departure they represent from the policy set by former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in the final days of the administration of former US president Donald Trump.
Pompeo verbally lifted nearly all restrictions on official contacts with Taiwan.
A diplomatic source on Friday said that while Pompeo and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken favor expanding engagement with Taiwan, the Biden administration wanted some form of written guidance in place, as some federal officials had expressed uncertainty about what kinds of interactions were permitted.
Former Czech Republic-based Taiwanese researcher Cheng Yu-chin (鄭宇欽) has been sentenced to seven years in prison on espionage-related charges, China’s Ministry of State Security announced yesterday. China said Cheng was a spy for Taiwan who “masqueraded as a professor” and that he was previously an assistant to former Cabinet secretary-general Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰). President-elect William Lai (賴清德) on Wednesday last week announced Cho would be his premier when Lai is inaugurated next month. Today is China’s “National Security Education Day.” The Chinese ministry yesterday released a video online showing arrests over the past 10 years of people alleged to be
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
LIKE FAMILY: People now treat dogs and cats as family members. They receive the same medical treatments and tests as humans do, a veterinary association official said The number of pet dogs and cats in Taiwan has officially outnumbered the number of human newborns last year, data from the Ministry of Agriculture’s pet registration information system showed. As of last year, Taiwan had 94,544 registered pet dogs and 137,652 pet cats, the data showed. By contrast, 135,571 babies were born last year. Demand for medical care for pet animals has also risen. As of Feb. 29, there were 5,773 veterinarians in Taiwan, 3,993 of whom were for pet animals, statistics from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency showed. In 2022, the nation had 3,077 pediatricians. As of last
XINJIANG: Officials are conducting a report into amending an existing law or to enact a special law to prohibit goods using forced labor Taiwan is mulling an amendment prohibiting the importation of goods using forced labor, similar to the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) passed by the US Congress in 2021 that imposed limits on goods produced using forced labor in China’s Xinjiang region. A government official who wished to remain anonymous said yesterday that as the US customs law explicitly prohibits the importation of goods made using forced labor, in 2021 it passed the specialized UFLPA to limit the importation of cotton and other goods from China’s Xinjiang Uyghur region. Taiwan does not have the legal basis to prohibit the importation of goods