US comes to Taiwan’s aid to curb China’s growing hegemony

In a major attempt to boost US-Taiwan ties, a new de facto US embassy was inaugurated in Taipei around the time US President Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un were holding their ‘historic’ summit. Speaking on the occasion, the Director of the American Institute in Taiwan, Kin W Moy, had said: “We should all be proud of this milestone, which is a symbol of the close cooperation and enduring friendship between the United States and Taiwan,” while Marie Royce, US Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, had said at the ceremony that the new building was a symbol of strength and vibrancy of the US-Taiwan partnership. Not surprisingly, in a stern message, the Chinese foreign ministry urged the US to “scrupulously abide by its promises to China over the Taiwan issue, correct their wrong actions, and avoid damaging China-US relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”

Surely, close ties between Washington and Taipei isn’t a new phenomenon. In fact, despite having terminated the diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979 and having recognised it as a part of China under the ‘One China Policy’, successive American administrations have continued to strengthen military and other ties with Taiwan. Improving ties with Taiwan has also become an important priority of the Trump administration. In fact, he had received a telephone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen and also questioned the ‘One China Policy’. In the early months of 2018, the Trump administration took several steps to strengthen the ties with Taiwan. Trump signed into law the National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) for the Fiscal Year 2018, which mentions strengthening the defence partnership between the US and Taiwan as continuing US legal commitments. The NDAA also stated that the US should invite Taiwan to participate in military exercises and to consider ‘reestablishing port-of-call exchanges between the navies of the two sides. In March, President Trump signing the Taiwan Travel Act cleared the way for the visit of high-ranking officials to Taiwan and consequently, Alex Wong, a deputy assistant secretary at the US State Department, visited Taipei and met President Tsai. Thus, the latest development of the inauguration of the de facto US embassy in Taipei should, therefore, be seen only as a part of the well-thought-out plan of the Trump administration towards Taiwan.

These transforming efforts by the Trump administration have been necessitated by various reasons. One of them is President Trump’s personal distrust of China. He is disturbed by the fact that Beijing has not indicated its willingness to cooperate with the US on several bilateral and international issues, including the widening trade volume in favour of China, the Iran and North Korea issues and others. Thus, while Washington has imposed trade tariffs on China, beginning a trade war between the two, the Trump administration has also focused on building pressure on China from all the sides, including expanding relations with Taiwan. China adopting an extremely assertive stand against Taiwan has also propelled the American leadership to ensure that Taiwan can effectively meet any existential threat from China. At a time when Beijing has taken efforts to militarise South China, the strategic location of Taiwan, which is a key link in “first island chain” from South Korea in the north to the Philippines in the south, can play a vital role in restricting China’s expansionist policy in the western Pacific.

Another reason for a marked shift in US policy towards Taiwan could be the appointment of John Bolton as the US National Security Adviser, given his pro-Taiwan approach. This sentiment has also been reflected by US Secretary of Defense James Mattis when he warned China at the annual IISS Shangri-La Dialogue against disrupting the ‘status quo’. Increasing bipartisan voices in America urging the government to take strong steps to protect Taiwan’s interests against China has also emboldened the Trump administration.

On the other hand, while China has been extensively using its economic power to force several countries — Nigeria, Panama and others — to derecognise Taiwan as an independent country, it has also opened a new air route over the narrow Taiwan Strait separating China and Taiwan and carries out military details in the vicinity. This has given Taipei all the more reasons to seek enhanced support from the US.

Undoubtedly, while in recent times the relationship between the US and Taiwan has scaled up, their shared interests in maintaining peace and security in the Taiwan Strait and effectively tackling China’s power manoeuvring in the region among other aims will continue to shape the bilateral ties in the future.

The author is visiting fellow, Dept. of IDAS, National Chengchi University, and research fellow, Chennai Centre for China Studies