US President Donald Trump on March 16 signed into law the Taiwan Travel Act. The act joins the Taiwan Relations Act as the second piece of US legislation to have the word “Taiwan” in its name. The legal framework for interactions between Taiwan, the US and China has moved from “one law, three communiques” to “two laws, three communiques.”
The Taiwan Travel Act is not just the first piece of Taiwan-related US legislation to be introduced since the end of the Cold War, it also reflects the new security challenge brought about by the rise of China.
Significantly, Trump chose to sign the bill into law — rather than allowing it to automatically pass — on the very day Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) was “re-elected” to serve a limitless second term by China’s rubber-stamp National People’s Congress.
This act was a premeditated political action, which should be seen within the wider context of a series of important national security reports released by the Trump administration over the past few months.
First, the National Security Strategy report released in December last year emphasized “peace through strength.” The report labeled China a challenger to US power, influence and interests, and a “revisionist power” that seeks to shape an alternative world order separate from US values and interests, spread its influence both regionally and globally, and eject the US from the Indo-Pacific region.
Second, the Pentagon earlier this year released the National Defense Strategy, which emphasized the modernization of China’s military and its model of economic invasion.
The report also focused on Beijing’s use of force to coerce neighboring nations in the Indo-Pacific region, its short-term goal to become the predominant regional power and its long-term aim to become a superpower. It characterized China as a “strategic competitor” to the US.
Third, the Pentagon’s Nuclear Posture Review stated that the US believes China is seeking to revise the post-Cold War international order and system of rules, and that the modernization of China’s military, coupled with Beijing’s push to become a leading regional power, constitutes the main challenge to US interests in Asia.
Former White House chief economic adviser Gary Cohn has resigned and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was fired by Trump, who, on March 13, announced that Tillerson’s replacement would be hawkish CIA Director Mike Pompeo. Trump clearly plans to bypass China in dealing with North Korea.
This demonstrates that with Trump in the White House, the US will take a more robust line with China economically, diplomatically and even militarily.
Following Xi’s decision to abolish the constitutional term limit on the presidency, the risk of confrontation between the US and China in the Asia-Pacific is to continue for some time.
Since President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) took office, Beijing has altered the so-called “status quo” on the Taiwan Strait. Washington has responded by changing the “status quo” in the Asia-Pacific region and by passing the act, which lowers the legal threshold for interaction between Taiwan and the US.
The government should consider moving away from its policy of passively upholding the “status quo” toward a comprehensive, proactive, forward-thinking, pragmatic and strategic response to meet the challenges set by Beijing.
Taiwan needs to find its key strategic position in the game of chess being played out in the Indo-Pacific region.
Lin Tai-ho is the director of National Chung Cheng University’s Institute of Strategic and International Affairs.
Translated by Edward Jones
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