US President Biden upholds support for Taiwan, says China expert
United States President Joe Biden has demonstrated his support for Taiwan through his actions, and instead of blindly seeking cooperation with China, he will require China to abide by the rules and to compete fairly with U.S. enterprises, a China expert has said.
Commenting on his maiden Interim National Security Strategic Guidance, Bonnie Glaser, a China expert from the U.S.-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, told BBC Chinese News that Biden’s views on China have changed.
The guidance was issued on Wednesday, in which Biden said Washington should deal with challenges arisen from mainland China and that he would support Taiwan in accordance with the U.S.’s “long-term commitments,” as well as Hong Kong, Xinjiang and Tibet.
The Taiwan Relations Act, enforced in 1979, continues to provide the legal basis for a de facto diplomatic relationship between the U.S. and the self-governing island, and enshrines the U.S.’s commitment to assisting Taiwan to maintain its defensive capability.
China was the “biggest competitor” to the U.S. and even the international system, Biden added, and he needed to unite allies to confront the threat. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said China was the “biggest geopolitical challenge that [the] United States faces in the 21st century.”
Glaser said Beijing and Washington should first resolve the challenges facing both sides and reconcile the difference through dialogue. The Biden administration would not focus on the ideological differences in U.S.-China relations, but instead emphasize the values of foreign policy and the importance of its allies, she said.
U.S.-Taiwan relations will be stable and lasting, she believed, and Washington would continue to fulfil its commitments to sell arms to Taiwan and promote the island’s participation in international affairs. But she also hoped that Beijing and Taipei could resume the official dialogue that had been suspended for half a decade, in order to ease regional tensions.
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