A report released on Monday by the Asia Foundation calls on the new US administration to maintain a "one China" policy while cautioning both sides of the Taiwan Strait against unilateral attempts to change the status quo.
A parallel report says that "there is a strong view among all the countries in the region that China and Taiwan must both exercise restraint so as not to destabilize the entire region."
The two reports, respectively presenting the US and Asian views on the role of the US in Asia, are published after a year-long examination of US policy toward the region by two separate task forces composed of distinguished experts.
Ezra Vogel, Harvard professor and co-chair of the US group, said that Asian countries don't want a conflict between the US and China so that they don't have to decide who to side with.
Speaking at the launch of the reports, Vogel also said that Asian countries are "very concerned" that the Bush administration may be "too forthright" about arms sales to Taiwan, eventually resulting in an arms race between Taiwan and China.
In its report, the bi-partisan group of 37 high-ranking American policymakers and scholars urged the US government to "make clear to Taipei that it will not support an independent Taiwan achieved without Beijing's acceptance."
Washington should also tell Taipei that it will not necessarily come to Taiwan's defense "if Taipei declares independence unilaterally, or otherwise engages in actions aimed at provoking Beijing."
The report, called America's Role In Asia: American Views, says it is equally important that the US make clear to Beijing its opposition to the use of force to resolve the Taiwan issue.
Without detailing the circumstances under which Washington would or would not intervene, the report says, the US should indicate that "a military attack on Taiwan by the mainland may be met with US intervention."
Noting the 30-year-old policy continues to serve the US as well as both sides of the Taiwan Strait, the report says Washington "should be firm in its commitment to the `one China' principle as outlined in the Three Communiques" between Washington and Beijing.
The task force established a year ago consists of people who have played leading roles in US-Asian relations in the last 25 years, including former ambassadors and administration officials.
Its other co-chair is Casimir Yost, director of the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy at Georgetown University.
In its 60-page report, the group lists continued uncertainty in the Taiwan Strait as one of the trends that could threaten US interest in Asia.
The others include the drift in the US-Japan relationship, the nuclearization of India and Pakistan, and nationalism and the establishment of new regional groupings which exclude the US and other Western nations.
Taiwan’s Lee Chia-hao (李佳豪) on Sunday won a silver medal at the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham, England, a career best. Lee, 25, took silver in the final of the men’s singles against world No. 1 Shi Yuqi (石宇奇) of China, who won 21-17, 21-19 in a tough match that lasted 51 minutes. After the match, the Taiwanese player, who ranks No. 22 in the world, said it felt unreal to be challenging an opponent of Shi’s caliber. “I had to be in peak form, and constantly switch my rhythm and tactics in order to score points effectively,” he said. Lee got
EMBRACING TAIWAN: US lawmakers have introduced an act aiming to replace the use of ‘Chinese Taipei’ with ‘Taiwan’ across all Washington’s federal agencies A group of US House of Representatives lawmakers has introduced legislation to replace the term “Chinese Taipei” with “Taiwan” across all federal agencies. US Representative Byron Donalds announced the introduction of the “America supports Taiwan act,” which would mandate federal agencies adopt “Taiwan” in place of “Chinese Taipei,” a news release on his page on the US House of Representatives’ Web site said. US representatives Mike Collins, Barry Moore and Tom Tiffany are cosponsors of the legislation, US political newspaper The Hill reported yesterday. “The legislation is a push to normalize the position of Taiwan as an autonomous country, although the official US
‘CROWN JEWEL’: Washington ‘can delay and deter’ Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans for Taiwan, but it is ‘a very delicate situation there,’ the secretary of state said US President Donald Trump is opposed to any change to Taiwan’s “status quo” by force or extortion and would maintain that policy, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told the Hugh Hewitt Show host on Wednesday. The US’ policy is to maintain Taiwan’s “status quo” and to oppose any changes in the situation by force or extortion, Rubio said. Hewitt asked Rubio about the significance of Trump earlier this month speaking with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) chairman C.C. Wei (魏哲家) at the White House, a meeting that Hewitt described as a “big deal.” Asked whether the meeting was an indication of the
CHANGE OF TONE: G7 foreign ministers dropped past reassurances that there is no change in the position of the G7 members on Taiwan, including ‘one China’ policies G7 foreign ministers on Friday took a tough stance on China, stepping up their language on Taiwan and omitting some conciliatory references from past statements, including to “one China” policies. A statement by ministers meeting in Canada mirrored last month’s Japan-US statement in condemning “coercion” toward Taiwan. Compared with a G7 foreign ministers’ statement in November last year, the statement added members’ concerns over China’s nuclear buildup, although it omitted references to their concerns about Beijing’s human rights abuses in Xinjiang, Tibet and Hong Kong. Also missing were references stressing the desire for “constructive and stable relations with China” and
RSS