When President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan arrives in California, Kevin McCarthy, the head of the US House of Representatives, will personally speak with her. Beijing issued gruesome threats as Chinese missiles soared over the territory. Governments in the region’s cities started taking the possibility of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan seriously.
Despite this, Mr. McCarthy, a Republican, declared his plan to emulate Ms. Pelosi as soon as he was elected House speaker in January. But according to Prof. Stanton, President Tsai decided that wasn’t a good plan. He claims that it was obvious that Kevin McCarthy intended to pull a Pelosi. Tsai Ing-wen, however, declined, suggesting that we have tea together in California instead.
Dangerous Love Triangle
Despite not wanting another contentious visit from the US leader just yet, Tsai also must show China that it must not succeed in preventing communication between Taipei and Washington, the US’s most powerful ally.
China has been effective in luring away several of Taiwan’s formal allies over the years, reducing the number of nations that recognize Taipei to just 13 today. These overseas trips “align with Taiwan society’s needs for international recognition,” claims Mr. Sung. The Taiwanese place importance on these other proxies for foreign support when there is a lack of official recognition.
- Beijing issued gruesome threats as Chinese missiles soared over the territory.
- The Taiwanese place importance on the other proxies for foreign support.
- China has been deemed an existential danger by Congress.
The deteriorating connection between Taiwan’s two suitors, Washington and Beijing, is the proverbial “elephant in the room.” According to Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the relationship is worse now than it has ever been since the US and China gained formal recognition of one another in 1979.
” Beijing cannot be reached by phone by either the Pentagon or President Biden. China has been deemed an existential danger by Congress, she claims.
Washington has maintained a fragile status quo for many years by accepting Beijing’s stance that there is only one Chinese government, the one in the mainland, if not endorsing it. Since 1979, it has kept formal ties with that government, not Taiwan. It has, however, also stayed a steadfast ally of Taipei, promising to support the island’s self-defense.
However, the concern is that China now thinks the US is determined to alter the current situation, which has contributed to maintaining calm in the Taiwan Strait for the past forty or so years. President Biden informed Xi Jinping that he does not favor the separation of Taiwan from China and that he is not using Taiwan as a weapon, according to Ms. Glaser.
In the wake of contentious state visits or formal meetings with Taiwan’s leaders, she adds, such assurances are unlikely to mean much. Therefore, Taiwan also requires Mr. Xi to pick up the phone while Mr. Ma tours China and Ms. Tsai has tea in California.