China’s approach to Taiwan has moved from a position seeking peaceful development to a more aggressive and urgent stance, former American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) director William Stanton said yesterday.
His comments — made at a Taipei seminar hosted by the World United Formosans for Independence to review Taiwan’s governance under the Democratic Progressive Party from 2016 to this year — follow US President Donald Trump’s return from his state visit to China last week, when he met with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Trump initially treated Taiwan as a key strategic partner and a “card” to be used against China, so he approved more arms sales and lifted some restrictions on Taiwan-US high-level official meetings, but in his second term, he has taken a much more transactional approach, linking defense to semiconductors and economics, Stanton said.
Photo: Screen grab from the World United Formosans for Independence’s YouTube channel
Since 2016, the AIT has emphasized security cooperation and upgraded political and diplomatic contacts between Taiwan and the US, he said.
The US last year passed the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which eased contact restrictions for US officials and Taiwanese, and supported Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, including the WHO, the International Civil Aviation Organization and the IMF, he said.
“The US basically consistently opposed any unilateral changes, either on the part of Taiwan or China, with regard to the status quo relationship,” Stanton said. “So there was a bipartisan consensus on Taiwan’s strategic importance in the Indo-Pacific region.”
However, China’s policy has shifted from peaceful development to a more assertive, urgent approach, with heightened military intimidation, such as “gray zone” warfare, with ships and aircraft near Taiwan’s territorial waters and airspace, he said.
China is also undertaking political warfare and campaigns to isolate Taiwan, emphasizing its “one country, two systems” formula as the only viable model, he said, adding that Beijing constantly links “unification” to its dream of “national rejuvenation,” he said.
Beijing is targeting Taiwanese independence advocates, including any officials deemed to be “Taiwanese independence hardliners,” and implementing a two-pronged strategy of the threat of force combined with economic incentives and “united front” activities against Taiwan, Stanton said.
The idea of forced unification is a measure of Xi’s political ambitions, he added.
At a forum — titled “Prospects for the Development of Cross-Strait Relations After the Trump-Xi Summit,” hosted by the Center for Mainland China and Regional Development Research at Tunghai University — Tunghai political science professor Lin Tzu-li (林子立) said the summit would have profound impacts on the security of the entire Indo-Pacific region and the global geopolitical landscape.
The summit covered issues such as economics and trade, technology, energy security, the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and the restructuring of global supply chains, reflecting an ongoing restructuring of the international order, he said.
Taiwan is in a critical strategic position in the First Island Chain and the Indo-Pacific region, and is a pivotal hub of the semiconductor supply chain, which means that maritime shipping security, security and institutional cooperation among democratic nations, accurately interpreting US-China interactions following the summit, understanding the strategic positioning of all parties involved, and deliberating on Taiwan’s next steps have become vital tasks that Taiwanese society must face together, Lin said.
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