Taiwan and China informed the US in advance of the official announcement that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) would meet tomorrow in Singapore, US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia Daniel Russel said on Wednesday.
There had been speculation that the announcement came as a surprise to Washington.
Answering questions following a speech in New York on US-Asia policy, Russel said the news of the meeting was “subsequently leaked to the press — not by us.”
“My first reaction was that the meeting was consistent with the direction that we have encouraged both Taipei and Beijing to move in,” he said. “That is, direct constructive engagement with a view to promoting cross-strait stability and economic opportunity for both sides — to be conducted with the spirit of dignity and respect.”
However, he said that since first hearing of the meeting he had “seen a lot of press in Taiwan raising questions about the timing and potential political impact” on the Jan. 16 elections.
“It is very hard to know whether this meeting is going to have any impact or effect on the elections — and if it did, what that impact would be,” he said. “Would it help the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] or the KMT [Chinese Nationalist Party]? I genuinely don’t know.”
The US would wait and see “how the conversation goes and whether the discussions between the two leaders continues the positive momentum of the last several years that has seen the relaxation of tensions,” he said.
The US does not take sides in Taiwanese politics, but it “does have a strong stake in Taiwan’s thriving democracy and the US also has a strong stake in Taiwan’s economy and its economic diversification,” Russel said. “Because we have our ‘one China’ policy, the three communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act, we care greatly about Taiwan’s security and the stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
Former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) chairman Richard Bush on Wednesday said the Ma-Xi meeting would mark a “major shift” in cross-strait relations.
“Taiwan politics is the wildcard here,” Bush said in an article published by the Brookings Institution, where he is director of the Center for East Asia Policy Studies.
“In the next two weeks, we are likely to see a fierce struggle between the Ma administration and the DPP opposition to define the significance of the Ma-Xi encounter for Taiwan’s future,” he said.
Bush said that it is premature to speculate on the meeting’s impact on the January elections, but he wonders if Ma hoped to improve the KMT’s chances in the elections as well as consolidate his legacy in building cross-strait cooperation.
Bush also asked why Xi agreed to the meeting, noting that Taipei had announced that it would result in no agreements and no joint declaration and that no political talks would occur.
“This is appropriate since the work of concluding agreements between the two sides has ground to a halt, not least because of politics in Taiwan,” Bush said.
The Singapore meeting is expected to greatly increase interest in KMT Chairman Eric Chu’s (朱立倫) visit to Washington next week.
Asked if anyone from the White House would meet with Chu and if there was any concern that such a meeting might impact the elections, White House spokesman Josh Ernest on Wednesday said: “I’m not aware of his upcoming visit. But let me see if we can follow up with you for a reaction to those plans.”
However, US Department of State press relations director Elizabeth Trudeau said: “We welcome KMT Party Chairman Eric Chu’s visit and look forward to discussing a wide range of issues with him, just as we did with DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in June.”
“The United States will not take sides in the election. The outcome of Taiwan’s election is a matter for the people of Taiwan to decide,” she said.
The Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA) on Wednesday released a statement expressing “deep concern” about the Ma-Xi meeting.
“The fact that the plans for the meeting were kept under wraps until the last minute is symptomatic of the undemocratic ‘black box ‘approach the Ma government has been following,” it said.
“It is inappropriate for a lame duck president to engage in such a meeting,” FAPA said. “A truly fruitful and productive meeting between the leaders from the two sides can only be held in due time, after Taiwan itself has reached a broad consensus on future cross-strait relations in a transparent and open political process.”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS