Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy (Kevin McCarthy) met at the Reagan (Reagan, Reagan) Presidential Library in California, USA on April 5, Western time.
After the meeting, the two met with the media. Tsai Ing-wen thanked the United States for its support of Taiwan and reiterated Taiwan’s determination to maintain the peaceful status quo. McCarthy emphasized the need to strengthen arms sales to Taiwan to ensure that weapons arrive in Taiwan as scheduled, and to increase US-Taiwan technology and trade cooperation.
As the No. 3 figure in the U.S. government, McCarthy is the highest-ranking U.S. official to meet Taiwanese leaders on U.S. soil since 1979. This is the first time Tsai Ing-wen has met with the Speaker of the US House of Representatives in eight months since former Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August last year.
Cai Mai will provoke a backlash from the Chinese side. Beijing expresses its “resolute opposition and strong condemnation”, warning that it will take firm and forceful measures to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The outside world is concerned about whether the People’s Liberation Army will hold a large-scale military exercise in the Taiwan Strait that Pelosi visited Taiwan, but so far there seems to be no relevant signs. Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense pointed out that China’s “Shandong” aircraft carrier formation crossed the Bashi Channel and sailed through the southeast waters of Taiwan. The day before, China announced the launch of a three-day special joint patrol patrol in the central and northern parts of the Taiwan Strait.
Cross-party lawmakers attend “quantity for quality”
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and US House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met in California on April 5, 2023. This is the highest-level meeting between Taiwan and the US in the US since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the US in 1979.
The meeting was held behind closed doors, and a total of 18 bipartisan members of the House of Representatives, including McCarthy, attended. McCarthy stressed that Beijing cannot interfere with where he goes or who he meets.
The Biden administration continued to keep a low profile. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Tsai Ing-wen’s transit in the U.S. is not new, and it is a private and unofficial trip. Beijing should not use it to aggravate tensions.
Weng Lvzhong, an associate professor of politics at Sam Houston State University in Texas, told BBC Chinese that the “transit diplomacy” reflected the differences in attitudes between the executive and legislative departments of the United States, and that Tsai Ing-wen did not issue a separate statement as previously reported by the Financial Times. The speech was changed to a brief speech, “However, using cross-party congressmen to attend and exchange quantity for quality is already a surprise, and it can also be said to be a compromise between Taiwan and the United States to avoid irritation.”
This is the third meeting between the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and the president of Taiwan since the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 and the U.S. established diplomatic relations with China. Apart from the two recent times, the last time was in April 1997 when Lee Teng-hui received a delegation led by the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Richie Kim.
Qiu Shiyi, a professor of political science at Tunghai University in Taiwan, pointed out that while the United States still maintains the “one China” policy, the substantive relationship between the United States and Taiwan continues to deepen. The meeting between the Speaker of the US House of Representatives and the President of Taiwan has become a norm. International image, “Tsai Ing-wen is only short of giving a speech in Congress, but in essence, he is visiting the United States, not just passing through.”
Those present at the Cai-Mc meeting included Democratic Party Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar, House of Representatives U.S.-China Strategic Competition Select Committee Chairman Gallagher (Mike Gallagher), U.S.-China Strategic Competition Select Committee Democratic Chief Rep. Namodi (Raja Krishnamoorthi) et al.
The Democratic leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, also issued a statement before the Cai-Mak meeting, saying that he had met with Tsai Ing-wen during her transit in New York and had a fruitful dialogue on issues such as the security and economic interests of the United States and Taiwan. Mutual commitment to democracy and freedom was discussed.
This means that Tsai Ing-wen’s trip to the United States has met the number one figure in the Republican Party, as well as the number one and number three figures in the leadership of the Democratic House of Representatives.
“It is very meaningful. The United States has sent a clear signal that its support for Taiwan is strong and cross-party,” Song Wendi, a lecturer at the School of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, told BBC Chinese.
He continued that the three leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives happen to come from three different races, namely white (McCarthy), black (Jeffreys) and Latino (Aguilar), and Tsai Ing-wen is the first female president of Taiwan, ” Such an image is icing on the cake, reflecting concretely the United States and Taiwan, two democracies, that share the values of diversity and tolerance.”
Quote Reagan’s famous words on arms sales to Taiwan
Tsai Ing-wen and McCarthy at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Included in Reagan’s 1982 “six pledges” was no agreement to set a date for terminating arms sales to Taiwan.
Tsai chose to hold the meeting at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. McCarthy quoted the late U.S. President Ronald Reagan’s famous saying “Peace Through Strength” (Peace Through Strength), referring to the “six guarantees” proposed by Reagan that have continued for decades. Regarding the arms sales policy, the U.S. government will continue and accelerate the provision of weapons to Taiwan, which is also a bipartisan consensus in the U.S. Congress.
The “Six Guarantees” were put forward to Taiwan when Ronald Reagan and Beijing signed the “August 17 Joint Communiqué” in 1982. The relevant content has been declassified in recent years, including that the United States did not agree to set a date for terminating arms sales to Taiwan, The issue of arms sales to Taiwan was consulted with the People’s Republic of China, and the United States did not agree to amend the Taiwan Relations Act.
Su Ziyun, Director of Military Strategy and Industry of the National Defense Security Research Institute under Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense, pointed out to BBC Chinese that the importance of McCarthy’s stance on the delivery of weapons to Taiwan on schedule is that the U.S. Congress has relatively large powers and can directly formulate bills to ask the executive branch to go to Taiwan. Do.
Previously, the U.S. Department of Defense established the “Tiger Team” in August 2022 to review the reasons for the long-term inefficiency of U.S. foreign military sales, hoping to simplify the process and speed up arms sales to foreign allies.
The “Wall Street Journal” reported at the end of 2022 that the United States sent a large number of weapons to Ukraine to fight against the Russian army, which worsened the delayed delivery of arms sales to Taiwan, including 208 sets of Javelin anti-tank weapons ordered by Taiwan in December 2015, 215 Stinger anti-aircraft missiles have yet to arrive in Taiwan.
Beijing’s response ‘more nuanced’
After the Tsai-Mak meeting was held, the Chinese Foreign Ministry, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, and the Ministry of National Defense issued statements strongly condemning it. The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs pointed out that the U.S. side insisted on allowing Tsai Ing-wen to cross the border to “flee into the U.S.” The essence of the meeting was the collusion between the U.S. and Taiwan, and reiterated that the Taiwan issue is the first red line that cannot be crossed in Sino-U.S. relations.
The Chinese Ministry of National Defense stated that the PLA adheres to its duties and missions, maintains a high level of alert at all times, and resolutely maintains peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China warned that the DPP’s “use of the United States to seek independence” will only push Taiwan into a dangerous situation of “military violence and war” and bring serious harm to the majority of Taiwan compatriots.
At the time of the meeting, Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense pointed out that the Chinese “Shandong” aircraft carrier formation crossed the Bashi Strait and sailed through the southeast waters of Taiwan. The day before, CCTV news reported that a three-day special joint cruise inspection operation was launched in the central and northern Taiwan Strait. The Fujian Maritime Safety Administration dispatched a large cruise rescue ship “Hai Xun 06” to inspect cross-strait direct cargo ships and construction operation ships.
Su Ziyun pointed out that China’s stance is still very tough this time, but the methods are more detailed, using the new “three-war approach”: the legal battle is dominated by the Maritime Safety Administration of the Ministry of Transport, and the sovereignty of the Taiwan Strait is an “internal affairs”. It also avoids the escalation of military confrontation; public opinion warfare mobilizes pro-China groups to protest in the United States, places humiliating advertisements in Times Square, and uses small planes to hang “one China” banners over the Ronald Reagan Library for propaganda; psychological warfare issues statements Alleging that the Taiwan Strait is “in danger of war”, in an attempt to influence the political choices of the people in Taiwan.
image source,Getty Images
During Tsai Ing-wen’s visit to California, about 200 pro-China people held the five-star red flag and the slogan “Oppose Taiwan Independence” to protest against Tsai-Maihui, and confronted the crowd who supported Tsai Ing-wen at the scene.
Pro-China groups flew over California to display signs reading “One China! Taiwan is part of China”.
image source,Getty Images
Supporters of Tsai Ing-wen face off with pro-China groups outside a hotel in Los Angeles where Tsai is staying.
Su Ziyun believes that the CCP’s large-scale military exercises may still occur, but they are different from Pelosi’s August military exercises in Taiwan, mainly because of the different time and space backgrounds. Last August, Xi Jinping faced the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. The surrounding sea and air traffic is limited, so Beijing has used strong military exercises to show its internal weakness. However, this year Xi Jinping has been successfully re-elected as the president of the country, and the sea and air traffic around the Taiwan Strait has also resumed busy.
He judged that large-scale and long-term military exercises of the PLA will affect neighboring countries such as Japan and South Korea, and even hinder Beijing’s economic recovery. , short-term” type.
Song Wendi also held a similar view. He pointed out that French President Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are visiting China at the moment. If Beijing sharply raises military tensions at this time, “it will be very embarrassing for the two of them, and it will make Europe feel bad about China.” Pai voice loses its vane.”