US President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he would not make any “fundamental concessions” on Taiwan’s defense when he meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at a G20 leaders’ summit in Bali, Indonesia, next week.
“I’m not willing to make any fundamental concessions because what I’ve told him in the beginning ... when I was vice president,” Biden said at a news conference, when asked if he would tell Xi that he is committed to defending Taiwan militarily and if he would be willing to make any concessions to Xi.
The US and China have been in discussions to arrange direct talks during the summit, which is to take place on Tuesday and Wednesday, and is to be the first in-person meeting between the two presidents.
Photo: Reuters
Biden said he wants to lay out “what each of our red lines are,” and to understand the critical interests of both sides to “determine whether or not they conflict with one another.”
“The Taiwan doctrine has not changed at all from the very beginning,” Biden said, referring to the continuation of arms sales to Taiwan to defend against possible attacks from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
Biden said the two would discuss fair trade and China’s relations with other countries in the region, among other issues.
The US has always been looking for competition instead of conflict, Biden said, adding that he made this point in meetings with Xi prior to becoming US president.
A White House official on Wednesday said that Biden would work with partners in the G20 summit to “lay the foundations of a more sustainable and inclusive global economy,” to support US families and the economies of vulnerable countries.
In a recorded interview with the 60 Minutes television program that aired on Sept. 18, Biden told host Scott Pelley that the US would defend Taiwan “if in fact there was an unprecedented attack.”
It was the fourth time Biden has made such public comments, although each time it was followed by a clarification from administration officials that could be interpreted as walking back the commitment.
The US has repeatedly said that it would follow the Taiwan Relations Act and provide Taiwan with the necessary military capabilities to defend itself.
The act was passed in 1979 to maintain commercial, cultural and other unofficial relations between the US and Taiwan after Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.
Under the act, Washington is required “to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character.”
Separately, China has offered Taiwan assistance to combat climate change, Chinese Special Envoy on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (解振華) said on Wednesday, using environmental policy to bolster its claim to the nation.
“Within the policy of ‘one China,’ we have provided assistance to Taiwan to implement climate policies,” Xie said in a speech to the COP27 climate conference in Egypt.
China has traditionally avoided any mention of Taiwan at such events and vigorously opposed Taipei’s attempts to participate in international forums, including the COP summits. By speaking on behalf of Taiwan at COP27, Xie took a new approach to Beijing’s claim of jurisdiction.
“This shows how China sees the interlinkages between climate and geopolitics,” Belinda Schape, a climate diplomacy researcher at think tank E3G, wrote on Twitter. “National security now part of every aspect — including global climate action!”
Xie was not specific about what assistance China had offered.
In Taipei, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the Chinese representative’s blatant lie at this international conference, and his attempt to undermine the sovereignty of this nation.”
The effectiveness of Taiwan’s environmental protection policies was obvious to the international community, and its efforts in that area had “nothing to do with China,” the statement said, adding that Taiwan’s plan to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050 was more ambitious than China’s climate commitments.
The statement criticized China for politicizing the COP27, which it called a “serious venue for the international community to jointly face the challenge of climate change,” and its “years of malicious obstruction of Taiwan’s participation” in the framework.
The ministry “hopes the international community will take concrete actions to recognize Taiwan’s contribution to combating climate change, support Taiwan’s participation in the negotiation process of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement, and allow Taiwan to make more contributions to global net zero emissions,” the statement said.
Additional reporting by Bloomberg and AFP
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique