China has been “busy” changing the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait through moves including imposing military threats against Taiwan, poaching the nation’s diplomatic allies and raising pressure to cut its international space, a US Department of State official said on Friday.
The primary desire of the US is to see a strong commitment to maintaining the “status quo,” US Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Patrick Murphy said in an interview with Voice of America.
“China has been busy changing the ‘status quo’ on this arrangement that has produced prosperity, stability and peace, even with some of the unusual aspects,” Murphy said in Hawaii, en route to Thailand and Indonesia.
“What I mean by changing the ‘status quo’ is we have heard voices in Beijing threaten the use of violence directed at Taiwan; we have seen China aggressively try to reduce the number of diplomatic partners that Taiwan enjoys around the world,” he said.
To intimidate Taiwan, China has stepped up military threats through various aggressive and provocative actions, such as the dispatching of warships, bombers and fighter jets to encircle Taiwan and conducting live-fire military exercises near Taiwan’s waters.
In a January speech, Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) said that China makes no promise to give up the use of force and reserves the option of taking all necessary means against pro-Taiwanese independence “separatists.”
Under the administration of former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), Beijing largely refrained from poaching Taiwan’s allies or carrying out military maneuvers near its waters.
Since taking office in May 2016, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party has refused to accept the so-called “1992 consensus” — a term former Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi (蘇起) in 2006 admitted making up in 2000 that refers to a tacit understanding between the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party that both sides of the Taiwan Strait acknowledge there is “one China,” with each side having its own interpretation of what “China” means.
As a result of the Tsai administration’s refusal to accept the “1992 consensus,” Beijing has stepped up pressure on Taiwan.
Under Tsai, Taiwan has lost five diplomatic allies — Sao Tome and Principe; Panama; the Dominican Republic; Burkina Faso; and El Salvador — which are believed to have been lured away by financial incentives from China.
China’s pressure to shrink Taiwan’s international space has left the nation with only 17 diplomatic allies.
“China has been busy trying to crop Taiwan out of the international space and international organizations where Taiwan has made important contributions to public health, civil aviation and many more global concerns that affect all around the world,” Murphy said.
Earlier commitment to maintaining the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait “brought peace, stability and prosperity for all concerned,” he said.
The US continues to recognize the “one China” policy, which has been firmly based on important historical documents such as the Three Joint Communiques negotiated with China in 1972, 1978 and 1982, and the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), he added.
The TRA was enacted in 1979 after Washington severed ties with Taipei, with the aim of defining future unofficial relations between Taiwan and the US.
“This framework has served us, Taiwan and China well for the past 40 years now,” Murphy said.
Commenting on Washington’s arms sales to Taipei, Murphy said that under the framework, there is precedent.
“And it’s a matter of policy in the United States that Taiwan’s defensive needs are merited, so the United States has been a helpful partner in that regard,” he said.
US PUBLICATION: The results indicated a change in attitude after a 2023 survey showed 55 percent supported full-scale war to achieve unification, the report said More than half of Chinese were against the use of force to unify with Taiwan under any circumstances, a survey conducted by the Atlanta, Georgia-based Carter Center and Emory University found. The survey results, which were released on Wednesday in a report titled “Sovereignty, Security, & US-China Relations: Chinese Public Opinion,” showed that 55.1 percent of respondents agreed or somewhat agreed that “the Taiwan problem should not be resolved using force under any circumstances,” while 24.5 percent “strongly” or “somewhat” disagreed with the statement. The results indicated a change in attitude after a survey published in “Assessing Public Support for (Non)Peaceful Unification
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
‘MISGUIDED EDICT’: Two US representatives warned that Somalia’s passport move could result in severe retaliatory consequences and urged it to reverse its decision Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) has ordered that a special project be launched to counter China’s “legal warfare” distorting UN Resolution 2758, a foreign affairs official said yesterday. Somalia’s Civil Aviation Authority on Wednesday cited UN Resolution 2758 and Mogadishu’s compliance with the “one China” principle as it banned people from entering or transiting in the African nation using Taiwanese passports or other Taiwanese travel documents. The International Air Transport Association’s system shows that Taiwanese passport holders cannot enter Somalia or transit there. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) protested the move and warned Taiwanese against traveling to Somalia or Somaliland
SECURITY: Grassroots civil servants would only need to disclose their travel, while those who have access to classified information would be subject to stricter regulations The government is considering requiring legislators and elected officials to obtain prior approval before traveling to China to prevent Chinese infiltration, an official familiar with national security said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) in March announced 17 measures to counter China’s growing infiltration efforts, including requiring all civil servants to make trips to China more transparent so they can be held publicly accountable. The official said that the government is considering amending the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to require all civil servants to follow strict regulations before traveling to China.