While the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is “confident” in US-Taiwan ties in light of the impending visit to China by US President Donald Trump, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) urged action to increase national security, while the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) urged a temperance in optimism.
Stability and peace across the Taiwan Strait are of great importance to the world, and it is only natural for Taiwan to be discussed in the upcoming meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) from today to Friday, DPP caucus chief executive Chuang Jui-hsiung (莊瑞雄) said yesterday.
DPP caucus secretary-general Fan Yun (范雲) highlighted the Taiwan Relations Act as the legal basis for US support for Taiwan, regardless of who is the US president.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
KMT caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) said Taiwan has been increasingly sidelined and appeared more like a chess piece rather than a participant in Taiwan-US-China relations.
Lin said there are no government assurances that, in the event of a US-China detente, Taiwan would not suffer an economic, diplomatic and national defense blowback.
Past US-Taiwan understandings on issues could be skirted or waived entirely due to Trump’s mercurial temper and transactional tendencies, KMT Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) said, adding that he did not understand the blind faith in the US that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is attempting to instill in the public.
KMT Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin (徐巧芯) said Trump’s February comments that he was discussing arms sales to Taiwan with Xi have shown that he might have contravened the “six assurances,” adding that Taiwan has not been mentioned in the US national defense white paper this year.
The KMT caucus asked that the Executive Yuan issue a national security assessment report immediately after Friday; that President William Lai (賴清德) hold a news conference ahead of the meeting and urge the US not to sacrifice Taiwanese security and international participation; that the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs consider contingency options; and that the Executive Yuan make contingency plans regarding the impact on Taiwanese industry.
TPP Legislator Jacky Chen (陳清龍) said that Taiwan should not be a chess piece for the superpowers and urged the ruling party not to be overtly optimistic, adding that national defense and national sovereignty were absolute red lines.
Scott Kennedy, a senior adviser at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the summit could reach a detente that, on the surface, is more beneficial to China.
Commenting on the lack of a Chinese response regarding Taiwan’s special defense budget, National Cheng Kung University Department of Political Science professor Wang Hung-jen (王宏仁) said that Beijing’s silence does not mean it does not care, but might be a strategic “muffling” before the Trump-Xi summit.
Beijing might not wish to escalate the Taiwan issue prematurely and risk affecting the summit, Wang said, adding that Beijing has opted for low-key pressure rather than open opposition, as experience shows that open opposition has only helped legitimize Taiwan’s need to strengthen its national defense.
Additional reporting by Chen Cheng-liang and Chen Yu-fu
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