The Taiwan Relations Act is supported by both of the major political parties in the US and is the cornerstone of cross-strait peace and stability, Taiwanese experts said yesterday.
The bill, which was promulgated 45 years ago, also encapsulates the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy and cannot be easily swayed by Chinese lobbying, they said.
Shih Hsin University assistant professor Wu Chu-meng (吳巨盟) said that the bill has provided the basis for commercial, cultural and other interactions between Taiwan and the US since 1979.
Photo: Fang Ping-chao, Taipei Times
It has helped the US expand its diplomatic policies, and helped maintain peace, security and stability in the western Pacific region, Wu said.
The Democratic and Republican parties recognize that a rising China threatens the US, and Washington is responding by adopting “derisking” strategies and policies, especially economically and in the technology sector, he said.
Institute for National Defense and Security Research fellow Su Tzu-yun (蘇紫雲) said that the bill is the most critical legal foundation upholding Taiwan-US ties, and defines bilateral political and security collaboration.
Support for Taiwan is strong across party lines in the US Congress and it would continue regardless of who wins November’s US presidential election, Su said.
“It can be predicted that Washington’s trust and security pledges to Taiwan will not change,” he said, adding that despite the support, Taipei should boost its defense capabilities.
Separately, National Cheng Kung University professor of political science Hung Chin-fu (洪敬富) said that the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) arrangement for former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) yesterday was pure political manipulation.
The Ma-Xi meeting in Beijing was held in quick succession to American Institute in Taiwan Chair Laura Rosenberger’s visit to China and on the same day as a US-Japan summit, Hung said.
The location — Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, the heart of the CCP’s power — set the second Ma-Xi meeting apart from the first, which was in Singapore, a neutral location, he said.
Ma has made himself a template for Chinese “united front” rhetoric, Hung said.
Xi has made no secret that his ultimate goal is to see Taiwan unified with China and inviting someone of influence such as Ma to laud China and prompt peaceful unification is a move that severely undermines Taiwanese sovereignty, Hung said.
This act is a form of capitulation, he said, adding that Taiwanese would not want to “be of one mind” with a China that is harassing Taiwan daily.
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