Disputes between the US and China would not grow out of control in the near future, and Taiwan’s leadership should pursue institutionalization of US-Taiwan relations and ameliorate cross-strait relations, academics said yesterday.
The Association of Strategic Foresight hosted academics at a seminar in Taipei to discuss current and future relations among Washington, Taipei and Beijing.
Addressing concerns over China’s rising influence, the US would continue to implement its Indo-
Pacific strategy and policies that are friendly to Taiwan, which would not change no matter who wins in the Jan. 11 presidential election, National Chengchi University associate professor of diplomacy Lu Yeh-chung (盧業中) said.
The US’ Taiwan Travel Act, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 and increased military sales to Taiwan are symbolic indicators of its continued friendliness toward Taiwan, but it remains to be seen whether their practical effects would be greater, he said.
The primary goal after the elections is to institutionalize Taiwan-US interaction and ensure that it would not change with the rotation of political parties in power, Lu said.
On US-China relations, Washington currently views Beijing as a strategic competitor and a revisionist power rather than a friend or an enemy, Tamkang University associate professor of international affairs and strategic studies Li Da-jung (李大中) said.
The US and China have not completely decoupled, and they are several steps away from outright competition for global hegemony, he said.
The worst Taiwan could do right now is to go into full alert mode, he added.
“That’s like running in front of the US and then asking why it isn’t ready,” he said.
The anti-China sentiment in Taiwan now is greater than even during the Qiandao Lake incident in 1994 and the Sunflower movement in 2014, National Taiwan University political science professor Chang Teng-chi (張登及) said.
In the Qiandao Lake incident, 24 Taiwanese tourists and eight Chinese were kidnapped and murdered by three men in Zhejiang Province, China.
During the Sunflower movement, protesters occupied the Legislative Yuan’s main chamber in March and April 2014 to protest the government’s handling of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement.
If the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) succeeds in winning a second term, it must consider how to handle the US-Taiwan-China trilateral relations in a more refined manner, Chang said.
If the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) wins, it must make an effort to meet the expectations of the public, he added.
After reaching a “phase one” trade agreement, the US and China have temporarily ceased their trade conflict, he said.
This is a critical period and Taiwan should emulate Japan, India and other important Indo-Pacific nations by staying calm and avoiding risks, he said.
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