The administration of US President Joe Biden can be expected to take a “more substantive approach” to the defense of Taiwan, an academic said on Saturday, following a US-Japan leaders’ summit in Washington on Friday.
Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga held their first in-person summit since Biden took office in January, during which they reaffirmed their commitment to stability in the Taiwan Strait.
“We underscore the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the two leaders said in a joint statement after the summit.
It was the first time since 1969 that a joint statement by the two countries’ leaders has directly referenced Taiwan. Similar wording was used in a joint statement following the US-Japan Security Consultative Committee in Tokyo on March 16.
Kuo Yu-jen (郭育仁), a professor at the Institute of China and Asia-Pacific Studies at National Sun Yat-sen University (NSYSU), said on Saturday that the statement, which he considered “binding” for the US and Japan as allies, expressed the two countries’ intention to expand their joint security efforts to the Strait.
Kuo said the US would take “a more substantive approach” to the defense of Taiwan, and would increase its military presence in the East and South China seas, as well as the Strait.
According to the US’ Taiwan Relations Act, which has served as a foundation for Taiwan-US relations after the two sides cut diplomatic ties in 1979, Washington is bound to provide Taiwan with arms sales to help it maintain its defense capabilities.
However, the US has never openly said it would deploy troops to defend Taiwan in the event of an invasion.
The joint statement is likely to anger Beijing, which could result in it sending more military aircraft and vessels close to Taiwan, Kuo said.
Taiwan should also be prepared for potential confrontations between China, Japan and the US in its proximity, he added.
Evans Chen (陳亮智), an associate research fellow with the state-run think tank Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that even though the joint statement is good news for Taiwan, it remains to be seen how the nation can deepen collaboration with the US and Japan to maintain peace and stability in the Strait.
Noting that Suga refrained from detailing what was discussed pertaining to Taiwan during the summit, Chen said the two governments, together with Taiwanese authorities, might have exchanged ideas about possible responses should a military conflict erupt in the region.
The three countries might have developed an understanding or even guidelines on possible actions in the event of Chinese coast guard or maritime militia coming into conflict with Japan’s coast guard, Chen said.
Beijing on Feb. 1 enacted a controversial coast guard law, which authorizes its coast guard vessels to use firearms if China’s sovereignty, sovereign rights or jurisdiction are deemed by the authorities to be violated by a foreign entity.
A Chinese academic said that Beijing’s relationship with Tokyo and Washington could be further strained following Friday’s summit.
Relations between China and Japan are worsening, said Jie Dalei (節大磊), an associate professor at Peking University’s School of International Studies.
Bilateral relations already suffered a setback following the US-Japan security talks a month ago, which also focused on the China challenges, as well as the Japanese government’s decision to release radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean, Jie said.
Even though the US and China intend to work together to combat climate change, their collaboration could be thwarted by competition and friction between the two governments in the long run, he said.
A group of Taiwanese-American and Tibetan-American students at Harvard University on Saturday disrupted Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng’s (謝鋒) speech at the school, accusing him of being responsible for numerous human rights violations. Four students — two Taiwanese Americans and two from Tibet — held up banners inside a conference hall where Xie was delivering a speech at the opening ceremony of the Harvard Kennedy School China Conference 2024. In a video clip provided by the Coalition of Students Resisting the CCP (Chinese Communist Party), Taiwanese-American Cosette Wu (吳亭樺) and Tibetan-American Tsering Yangchen are seen holding banners that together read:
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