Washington urged to keep promise on Taiwan question

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China’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday urged the US to abide by the one-China principle, stop sending wrong signals to Taiwan secessionists, and refrain from interfering in the Taiwan’s regional leader election in any form, after reports disclosed that the Biden administration will dispatch a delegation comprised of former senior officials to the island of Taiwan shortly after the island’s regional leader election to be held on Saturday.

Chinese experts noted that the US’ scheme would be destructive to ChinaUS relations, and is highly likely to trigger countermeasures from the Chinese side.

Citing people familiar with the plan, the Financial Times (FT) reported that the White House has tapped James Steinberg, a former Democratic deputy secretary of state, and Stephen Hadley, a former Republican national security adviser, to lead the bipartisan delegation to Taiwan island.

The FT report said that the purpose of sending the delegation is to ensure Washington was “communicating clearly” with the winning and losing candidates about US policy and the “uniqueness of the unofficial relationship” between the US and Taiwan island.

Lü Xiang, an expert on US studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the US releasing such a message a few days before the Taiwan regional election is a move apparently aimed at appeasing secessionists on the island, and encouraging voters “not to be afraid to support secessionists.”

“China stays focused and will make all kinds of contingency plans. If the US crosses the red line, China will definitely take firm countermeasures,” he said.

Diao Daming, an expert on US studies at the Renmin University of China in Beijing, said on Thursday that disclosing the planning of the trip ahead of the Taiwan regional leader election may suggest that the US believes that whoever takes office can be used to implement the US’ “Indo-Pacific” strategy.

“If secessionist Lai Ching-te is elected, it will carry out more risk management, and if KMT’s Hou Yu-ih is elected, the US will hold him back from getting too close with the mainland,” he explained.

But Washington should be aware that if there is any reaction from the Chinese side, it is the result of US actions, said Diao.

China hopes to maintain stability in the Taiwan Straits and does not want to see a conflict between China and the US over the Taiwan question, but the premise is that the US cannot cross the red line, otherwise China will definitely respond in a “tit for tat” manner, Lü said