Douglas Paal's departure from his position as director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the arrival of his replacement Stephen Young and Raymond Burghardt taking up the post of AIT Chairman offers a great opportunity for improving US-Taiwan relations. It is also an important diplomatic point in President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) presidency and he should make good use of it.
With China's growing influence over world affairs, the main challenge for Taiwan in its relationship with the US is to convince Washington to support Taiwan without worrying about what China will think.
A case in point are the long-stalled negotiations on a Taiwan-US free trade agreement (FTA). Over the past year, the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) in Washington has been pushing the US Congress to pass a resolution in support of the signing of an FTA. Both Deputy US Trade Representative Karan Bhatia, during his visit to Taipei in May, and Paal in his recent Brooking Institution speech poured cold water on the idea of an FTA.
They both said that Taiwan still has a host of responsibilities to fulfill, and that US businesses currently do not care about whether or not the US and Taiwan sign an FTA. Bhatia even connected the signing of an FTA to the issue of direct cross-strait transportation links. However, I believe that these are all excuses by US government officials to cover the fact that they are simply afraid to anger Beijing.
The US is currently holding FTA talks with both South Korea and Malaysia. Since both countries are the US' 7th and 9th largest trading partners respectively, why doesn't it want to negotiate an agreement with Taiwan, the US' 8th largest trading partner? Many experts have also pointed out that Taiwan's purchasing power is much stronger than most of the nations that have already inked FTAs with the US. There really is no reason for the US' refusal to sign an FTA with Taiwan.
Another example are the restrictions on the exchange of visits by high-ranking US and Taiwanese officials. The US Congress has long been dissatisfied with the unwritten rule that Taiwan's elected leaders cannot visit Washington.
To US lawmakers, such restraints imply that China is directing US foreign policy and dictating who can and cannot visit the US. In addition to the current lack of communication channels between US and Taiwanese leaders, there are also restrictions on the exchange of visits by military personnel.
In recent years, Congress has continuously proposed resolutions aiming to grant top US military personnel permission to visit Taiwan. Those who support Taiwan find it unreasonable that low and middle-ranking Pentagon officials can visit Taiwan but that their supervisors are banned from doing so.
People like Paal, however, hold the opposite view and say that the visits by senior US military officers are not only unnecessary but also problematic. This kind of discriminatory decision making -- whereby Taiwan is not allowed what other countries are just because China doesn't like it -- can only have a negative impact on bilateral exchanges, and also makes a mockery of Taiwan's democracy.
With Paal's departure and the appointment of Burghardt and Young, and with Thomas Christensen -- who took over as deputy assistant secretary of state in charge of Taiwan, China, Hong Kong and Mongolian affairs last month -- joining the US State Department, the Chen administration should take advantage of the opportunity offered by these personnel changes to thaw the current frosty US-Taiwan relationship.
Lee Ching-tai is president of the Washington-based Formosan Association for Public Affairs.
Translated by Daniel Cheng
The cancelation this week of President William Lai’s (賴清德) state visit to Eswatini, after the Seychelles, Madagascar and Mauritius revoked overflight permits under Chinese pressure, is one more measure of Taiwan’s shrinking executive diplomatic space. Another channel that deserves attention keeps growing while the first contracts. For several years now, Taipei has been one of Europe’s busiest legislative destinations. Where presidents and foreign ministers cannot land, parliamentarians do — and they do it in rising numbers. The Italian parliament opened the year with its largest bipartisan delegation to Taiwan to date: six Italian deputies and one senator, drawn from six
Recently, Taipei’s streets have been plagued by the bizarre sight of rats running rampant and the city government’s countermeasures have devolved into an anti-intellectual farce. The Taipei Parks and Street Lights Office has attempted to eradicate rats by filling their burrows with polyurethane foam, seeming to believe that rats could not simply dig another path out. Meanwhile, as the nation’s capital slowly deteriorates into a rat hive, the Taipei Department of Environmental Protection has proudly pointed to the increase in the number of poisoned rats reported in February and March as a sign of success. When confronted with public concerns over young
Taiwan and India are important partners, yet this reality is increasingly being overshadowed in current debates. At a time when Taiwan-India relations are at a crossroads, with clear potential for deeper engagement and cooperation, the labor agreement signed in February 2024 has become a source of friction. The proposal to bring in 1,000 migrant workers from India is already facing significant resistance, with a petition calling for its “indefinite suspension” garnering more than 40,000 signatures. What should have been a straightforward and practical step forward has instead become controversial. The agreement had the potential to serve as a milestone in
China has long given assurances that it would not interfere in free access to the global commons. As one Ministry of Defense spokesperson put it in 2024, “the Chinese side always respects the freedom of navigation and overflight entitled to countries under international law.” Although these reassurances have always been disingenuous, China’s recent actions display a blatant disregard for these principles. Countries that care about civilian air safety should take note. In April, President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) canceled a planned trip to Eswatini for the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s coronation and the 58th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic
RSS