Taiwan is unlikely to become a bargaining chip amid the intensified rivalry between the US and China, a cross-strait expert said yesterday.
Chang Wu-ueh (張五岳), an associate professor in Tamkang University’s Graduate Institute of China, made the remarks at a forum in Taipei on strategic implications for Taiwan following the US-Russia Summit in Alaska, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin, China, and the military parade in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) made the shortest speech — only 920 words — compared with previous celebrations over the end of World War II and did not touch on cross-strait issues, Chang said.
Photo: CNA
Rather than focusing on Xi’s speech, people should focus on how he wanted to demonstrate China’s military might and its perspective on international politics, which were explicitly declared to the international community and to Chinese through the parade, Chang said.
Xi did not comment on cross-strait issues because Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧) had reiterated principles of “one China” and “anti-independence” at a forum in Beijing on Tuesday, Chang said.
“China would also focus on celebration of the 80th anniversary of Taiwan Retrocession Day on Oct. 25. It is likely to have new narratives on issues related to Taiwan,” Chang said.
Regarding the meeting between Xi and US President Donald Trump, Chang said that Taiwan is unlikely to be used a bargaining chip, even though Trump is known for conducting transactional diplomacy.
“The American public, including politicians, citizens and mainstream media, has come to view China as the biggest threat and potential enemy. That perception is not likely to change because of the will of any individual,” Chang said.
Meanwhile, Beijing has not offered anything Trump would consider worth trading Taiwan for, Chang said.
Whether Beijing can trust Trump to make good on his promise remains a question, he said.
“Instead of worrying that Taiwan would be used as a bargaining chip, people should be concerned whether cross-strait tensions would continue to increase if the structural conflicts between the US and China remain unresolved,” he said.
Cross-strait relations remain a fragile, but manageable risk, he said, adding that the US-China rivalry is expected to continue.
Taipei Medical University Center for General Education deputy dean Chang Kuo-cheng (張國城) said that Xi kept his speech at the parade short possibly because it was not an occasion to lecture world leaders.
It was also possible that his health did not allow him to deliver a long speech, he said.
“The massive display of drones and uncrewed submarines showed that China is researching and developing uncrewed vehicles and shaping the direction of wars in the future,” Chang Kuo-cheng said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also used the opportunity to introduce his daughter Kim Ju-ae to other world leaders, who could be the regime’s next supreme leader, he added.
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