Practical measures of support for Taiwan by the US government are more important than diplomatic recognition of the country, former director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) William Stanton said on Saturday at a forum in Taipei.
Stanton said that he does not foresee any major changes in the US’ engagement with Taiwan, which is why he was surprised when former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo in Taiwan earlier this month called for the US to recognize Taiwan as a “free and sovereign country.”
“Setting aside whether secretary of state Pompeo had ever proposed this to [former US president Donald] Trump, a more important question, from my perspective, is whether he had discussed this first with the Taiwanese government, either before or during his visit,” Stanton said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Stanton, a chair professor at National Chengchi University and a lecturer at its International College of Innovation, said he believes that any shift in the US’ position on cross-strait relations must be coordinated with the Taiwanese government.
“It is easy for a US politician to take a forward-leaning stand on Taiwan, but Taiwan will always bear the brunt of any People’s Republic of China reaction to policy shifts,” said Stanton, who served as AIT director from 2009 to 2012.
Pompeo was “one of the few top officials in the Trump administration who really cared about Taiwan,” Stanton said.
However, there is no reason for a shift in the US’ diplomatic policy on Taiwan, he added.
“The Taiwanese government needs to consider not only the practical potential gains of diplomatic recognition but also the possible costs,” he said.
The US should avoid rhetoric and take practical steps to strengthen its relationship with Taiwan and boost its defense capabilities, he said.
US President Joe Biden and his administration “have repeatedly said the US’ support for Taiwan is ‘rock-solid,’ but no one knows what that specifically means,” Stanton said. “Even the metaphor is troubling. Not all rock is solid. Shale is usually soft and brittle, and limestone is soft as well.”
He said that Washington should consider supportive measures such as signing a bilateral free-trade agreement, lifting the existing range restrictions on Taiwan’s missiles and expanding exchanges so that more young Americans can visit Taiwan.
Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment on Pompeo’s call for the US to recognize Taiwanese sovereignty, saying that the former US official is now a private citizen and it respected his right to comment.
The AIT was established in 1979 to represent US interests in Taiwan when diplomatic ties between the countries were cut.
‘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
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
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
RSS