Pompeo lifts US-Taiwan restrictions in move likely to anger China
Secretary of state Mike Pompeo is lifting restrictions on contacts between US officials and their Taiwanese counterparts, a move welcomed by Taiwan but labelled by some observers a publicity stunt likely designed to anger China.
The announcement came late on Saturday, just 11 days before the departure of President Donald Trump, whose foreign relations have been defined by increased hostilities with Beijing.
In a statement, Pompeo said the US state department had imposed the complex internal restrictions on itself “in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing”, and he was now lifting them all.
The guidelines included restrictions on where representatives could meet, and limited the ranks allowed to attend Taiwan’s national day celebrations. They also said the US should not refer to Taiwan as a “country” or “government”.
The Chinese Communist party has never ruled Taiwan, but Beijing considers it a wayward province that must be returned to the fold, by force if necessary. It claims Taiwan’s governing leaders, who say the island is a sovereign state, are separatists.
Beijing says the status of Taiwan is the most sensitive issue in its relationship with the US. The US has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but has for decades operated under legislation mandating the US provide Taiwan with support, including arms sales, in its resistance to Chinese pressure.
Taiwan’s unofficial embassy in Washington, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, said the US move showed the “strength and depth” of the US relationship with Taiwan.
“Decades of discrimination, removed,” Taiwan’s representative in the US, Bi-khim Hsiao, said on Twitter. “A huge day in our bilateral relationship. I will cherish every opportunity.”
Taiwan’s foreign minister, Joseph Wu, thanked Pompeo for lifting the “unnecessarily limiting” restrictions. “The closer partnership between Taiwan and the US is firmly based on our shared values, common interests and unshakeable belief in freedom and democracy,” he said.
Recent US administrations have followed the guidelines less and less, and the official change was not unexpected. The Taiwan Assurance Act of 2019 noted the self-imposed restrictions had “resulted in insufficient highlevel communication”, and mandated a review within 180 days, and a reissuing of the guidelines.
Gerrit van der Wees, a former diplomat and Taiwan commentator who teaches the history of Taiwan at George Mason University, said a bipartisan Congress coalition had been pushing for the “welcome” changes for several years.
“The guidelines were initiated in 1978, when US broke relations with the Nationalist Chinese government, as it was still claiming sovereignty over China,” he said. “However, after Taiwan became a vibrant democracy, the relationship fundamentally changed, and the guidelines came to be seen as increasingly anachronistic in dealing with a democratic partner who is faced by an aggressive and belligerent neighbour.”
Other observers greeted Pompeo’s announcement with scepticism, suggesting it was just another move taken by the administration since the election
to antagonise China and make things difficult for Biden.
“One can argue about the merits of the policy but Pompeo did this 11 days before a transition of power and seemingly without consulting with his successor,” Thomas Wright, senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, told the Guardian.
Wright dismissed comments by the state department’s top official in the region, David Stilwell, to the Financial Times denying the decision was rushed.
“The only conclusion to draw is that his motive is political – to push Biden into a standoff with China in his first weeks … or to reverse his decision which he will gleefully portray as soft on China.”
Jessica Drun, a non-resident fellow at Project 2049, a thinktank focusing on security in the Asia Pacific region, said there was nothing inherently wrong in the substance of Pompeo’s announcement.
“The seeming lack of coordination with the incoming administration, and the abruptness of the announcement against the backdrop of domestic political turmoil, however, could set a dangerous precedent of making Taiwan a partisan issue in the United States,” she said.
“The United States’ policy towards Taiwan – as imperfect as some may find it – has endured and benefited from consistent support from both sides of the aisle, and a deliberate move to undermine this puts Taiwan in the crosshairs of partisan whims.”
A spokesperson for the Biden transition team told the Financial Times the incoming president was “committed to the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act” which defined relations between the two governments, and to the US’s one-China policy.
“Once in office, he will continue to support a peaceful resolution of crossstrait issues consistent with the wishes and best interests of the people of Taiwan,” the spokesperson said.
Last week, Pompeo announced a last-minute visit to Taiwan next week by the US ambassador to the United Nations, Kelly Craft, to meet senior Taiwanese leaders. The announcement prompted China to warn on Thursday that the Trump administration was playing with fire.