Biden-Xi talks to boost stability in Taiwan Strait

APEC envoy Morris Chang says the talks eased tension between Beijing and Washington.

An agreement by United States President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping to restore military communications of their countries will likely improve stability in the Taiwan Strait, Taipei’s chief delegate to the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in San Francisco, California said on Friday.

“I think that it should help to reduce the tension between US and China, and it should increase the stability of the Taiwan Strait,” Morris Chang told reporters.

Chang, 92, is founder of semiconductor giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.

China claims self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has ramped up military pressure against it in recent years.

Taiwan is a key point of tension between Washington and Beijing.

Meanwhile, Taiwan’s two leading opposition parties failed to agree Saturday on who would lead the ticket in a joint presidential bid for January’s crucial elections.

The Kuomingtang, Taiwan’s biggest pro-Beijing group, and the less established Taiwan People’s Party have both pledged to promote closer ties with China and struck a deal this week to evaluate recent polls to determine their candidate to oppose frontrunner Vice President Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party.

An announcement had been expected Saturday but the KMT and TPP disagreed on how to calculate the margin of error for polls, which led to a deadlock in negotiations.

“We should sit down and resolve this minor dispute — I believe it’s a minor dispute — and quickly form a team to work together,” KMT chairman Eric Chu said.

The KMT’s candidate, Hou Yu-ih, is the mayor of New Taipei City and has been performing below expectations against Lai.