In the final days of the Trump Administration, the United States announced that it lifted its
long-standing restrictions on its officials engaging with Taiwan.
Against the backdrop of rising tensions with mainland China,
this presents the Biden Administration with a significant foreign policy problem.
So, how have US-Taiwan relations been in the past?
And why is this decision so significant for the new administration?
[MUSIC]
Hello and welcome to the channel.
If you're new, my name is James Ker-Lindsay and here I take an
informed look at international relations, conflict and the origins of countries.
One of the most interesting aspects of international relations is the
way in which states interact with entities - whether other states,
de facto states or governments - that they don't actually recognize.
While there's a tendency to think that a lack of
recognition means a complete lack of interaction, this is rarely the case.
In fact there are numerous examples of countries that don't recognize
each other having extensive cooperation.
One of the most significant cases on the world stage is the relationship
between the United Atates of America and Taiwan.
While the United States has long supported Taiwan,
and even maintains a representative office in Taipei, the Taiwanese capital,
it's always maintained a very clear diplomatic distance from it since it switched its formal
recognition from the Republic of China (Taiwan) to the People's Republic of China, in 1979.
However, in recent years there's been a dramatic shift.
This culminated on 9 January 2021,
when the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced that he'd lifted the restrictions
limiting the interaction between US officials and their Taiwanese counterparts.
Needless to say, the move received an angry response from the Chinese government.
The question now is what can, or should, the new Biden administration do about it?
Taiwan lies in East Asia.
At 36,000 square kilometers - or 14,000 square miles - if it was an
independent state, it would be the 134th largest member of the United Nations.
Its population currently stands at around 23.5 million, which would put it in 57th place.
I covered the question of Taiwan's status in another video,
and so I won't go into considerable detail again here.
But, by way of background, the Republic of China was proclaimed in 1912, following the
overthrow of the country's imperial dynasty.
In 1927, a civil war broke out between the Chinese Nationalist Party
and the Chinese Communist Party, and in late 1949
the Communists took control of the mainland and established the People's Republic of China.
At this point, the Nationalists retreated to Taiwan where they continued to claim
sovereignty over the entire territory of the country as the Republic of China - a claim
strongly rejected by the People's Republic, which saw Taiwan as a breakaway territory.
Although the People's Republic was
quickly recognised by many communist states, including the Soviet Union,
the Republic of China continued to be recognised by much of the international community.
However, in the decades that followed over 60 countries switched their
recognition - including the United Kingdom, in 1950, and France in 1964.
As a result, in October 1971, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 2758.
Recognising the People's Republic of China as the only lawful representative of China to the
United Nations, Taiwan's representatives were expelled from the organisation.
Following this, ever more countries shifted their recognition
and today just 14 UN members continue to recognise Taiwan as the Republic of China.
Despite this, Taiwan continues to participate in a number of international organisations;
often under the designation 'Taiwan', 'Taiwan, China', or 'Taiwan, Province of China'.
In addition, almost 50 countries maintain some sort of economic or cultural presence in Taipei
that often effectively operate as de facto embassies.
These countries include Britain, France, Canada, Japan, India, Germany and the United State.
The United States officially established relations with the Empire of China on the 16 June 1844.
Following the retreat of the Nationalist forces to Taiwan, the United States moved
its embassy to Taipei and recognised the Republic of China as the country's legitimate government.
In the years that followed, and in line with rising concern about the spread of communism
in Asia, Washington increasingly saw Taiwan as an important ally.
In december 1954, they concluded a mutual defense treaty.
As well as allowing the US to provide defence support to Taiwan,
it also stipulated that an attack against either would be considered a common danger.
Despite its support to Taiwan,
the United States could not remain indifferent to the wider trends taking place.
The decision to admit the People's Republic of China as the representative of China the UN,
in 1971, forced it to reevaluate its position.
In 1972, and as part of a wider US effort to isolate the Soviet Union, US President Richard
Nixon made an historic trip to mainland china - ending 25 years of diplomatic estrangement.
On 1 January 1979, the United States officially switched its recognition from the Republic of
China, Taiwan, to the People's Republic of China with its capital in Beijing.
Despite this formal shift,
the United States continued to maintain close informal ties to Taiwan.
On 10 April 1979, the US Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act.
This stated that the United States remained committed to the view
that the future of Taiwan should be settled by peaceful means, and that any attempt to
settle it through non-peaceful means would be viewed as a threat to the
peace and security of the Western Pacific and of grave concern to the United States.
Moreover, the United States would continue to provide Taiwan with equipment and support
needed for its self-defence.
In addition, the act also stated that the United States will 'continue to
preserve and promote extensive close and friendly commercial
cultural and other relations between the people of the United States and the people on Taiwan'.
To this end, it stipulated the United States would maintain a presence in Taipei
through the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
While the United States remained committed to supporting Taiwan's existence,
in the decades that followed it introduced a raft of measures designed to tightly regulate
the interaction between US officials and their Taiwanese counterparts;
a move done in order to avoid antagonising the relationship with mainland China.
However, this began to change under the Trump Administration.
Amidst growing antagonism between Washington and Beijing,
support for Taiwan increased; not only in the White House but also in Congress,
where Taiwan's cause has enjoyed considerable support from Republicans and Democrats alike.
A total of five bills have been introduced in recent years.
These include the Taiwan Travel Act,
which encourages high-level exchanges between the governments.
The Taiwan International Participation Act,
designed to enhance Taiwan's place in international organisations.
And the Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative,
the Taipei Act, which requires the United States to produce reports
on steps taken to strengthen Taiwan's diplomatic relations internationally
and to change relations with countries that undermine Taiwan's security or prosperity.
As a result, official contacts between the United States and Taiwan also started to grow.
In August 2020, and against the backdrop of the battle against Covid,
the US Health Secretary, Alex Azar, became the first US
cabinet member to visit Taiwan since the break of relations, in 1979.
The following month, Keith Krach, the US Under Secretary of State for Economic Development,
visited Taiwan; becoming the most senior US State Department official to visit.
Needless to say, Beijing was furious at the moves,
accusing the United States of bolstering those who support Taiwan's independence.
It was against this backdrop of growing relations that Pompeo's announcement came on 9 January.
Calling Taiwan a "vibrant democracy" and "a reliable partner" of the United States,
he announced that all self-imposed restrictions imposed by the US
in "an attempt to appease the communist regime in Beijing" would now be lifted.
The effects were immediate.
In the days that followed, images emerged of US diplomats meeting their Taiwanese counterparts.
And while a planned visit by the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations,
Kelly Craft, was called off at the last moment as part of a last-minute cancellation of
all trips by senior US officials as part of the transition to the Biden administration, just days
later a video conference between Craft and the President of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen, went ahead.
Unsurprisingly, the announcement and subsequent steps brought about a
very swift and public response from the People's Republic of China.
Responding directly to Pompeo's tweet announcing the lifting of the restrictions,
the spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the move and
threaten countermeasures and punishment against those harming the country's core interests.
Then, on 18 January, China announced that it would impose sanctions on US officials who had
"acted badly" over Taiwan.
So, what does all this now mean?
As with a lot of other legacy issues from the Trump era,
the new Biden Administration is left with a very difficult foreign policy question.
If it respects the legislation now in place,
and keeps the policy announced by Pompeo, it risks antagonising China.
This could have serious repercussions for any attempt by the new administration to establish
a new relationship with Beijing and could see relations further deteriorate.
More seriously, there are those who think it may even hasten a move by mainland China
to retake Taiwan by force - a growing concern in many foreign policy circles.
However, rescinding the move, while it would be welcomed by China would
inevitably make the new administration look like it was pandering to Beijing
and would undermine ties with a close ally, Taiwan.
Interestingly, some believe that this too may also hasten steps
by China to try and retake Taiwan as Chinese policymakers may read this as an indication
that the new administration is not really committed to defending Taiwan.
This conundrum is the very reason many observers
suspect that Pompeo's decision was taken at the moment it was.
It was not really about the Trump Administration defending an ally.
Instead, it was a deliberate attempt to put the new administration in a tough position.
In any case, how it responds to this conundrum
will now be a key challenge for the Biden Administration as it takes power.
The relationship between the United States and Taiwan is one of the most interesting and
significant examples of how a state can interact with an entity that it doesn't formally recognise.
While the United States remains committed to defending Taiwan,
and has had extensive unofficial contacts with it,
it has nevertheless maintained a clear diplomatic distance from it publicly for many decades.
In one sense, the latest move might therefore appear to make sense.
As Pompeo also noted in his statement, the United States Government maintains
relationships with unofficial partners around the world and Taiwan is no exception.
However, one gets the sense that it was also done for overtly political reasons.
While there have been a number of openings towards Taiwan over the course of recent years,
the really key moves only came in the last six months of the Trump administration.
And, even then, the really significant steps in the last 10 days or so.
In this regard, one gets the sense it was done more to put the new Biden Administration
in a tight spot politically, than as a real and meaningful step to aid Taiwan.
In any case, as relations between the United States and China have become
ever more tense the question of Taiwan is now firmly centre stage for the new administration.
I hope you found that interesting.
If so, here are some more videos that you might like.
Thanks so much for watching and see you in the next video.