US taking its divisiveness to extremes

The White House has made repeated clarifications that there is no change in the United States’ policy on Taiwan. But that does not mean Washington will stop pushing the envelope on the most sensitive issue in its relations with China.

Instead, there is every sign that they are taking every opportunity to engage in brinkmanship.

On the one hand, US President Joe Biden has stated, twice in three months, that the US would defend Taiwan if it is attacked. No prizes for guessing who he was implying the attacker would be. On the other hand, multiple ranking officials of his administration are clamoring about the island’s participation at the United Nations.

At a Sept 30 virtual discussion, a deputy director of the American Institute in Taiwan openly claimed “The United States remains committed to expanding Taiwan’s international space”.

On Friday, officials of the Biden administration and Taiwan discussed ways for Taiwan to “meaningfully” participate at the UN. “US participants reiterated the US commitment to Taiwan’s meaningful participation at the World Health Organization and UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and discussed ways to highlight Taiwan’s ability to contribute to efforts on a wide range of issues,” according to a statement by the US State Department.

This, like the Donald Trump administration’s decision to encourage visits by ranking officials to Taiwan, is a dangerous move on Washington’s part that undermines the fundamentals of Sino-US relations.

That the virtual panel was convened just before

Beijing’s planned commemoration of the restoration of its legitimate status as the country’s sole representative at the UN on Monday was no doubt meant to be provocative. This obviously contradicts the administration’s argument of “no change” in its Taiwan policies — it clearly finds the US’ previous “ambiguity” inadequate in dealing with what it sees as “an increasingly assertive” China. Yet at the same time it is fully aware of what is at stake — neither China nor the US is what it was, and open confrontation would be bad for both.

But Washington’s decision-making circles want the US to be on the front foot, which is in turn driving attempts to sabotage UN Resolution 2758. The UN General Assembly on October 25, 1971, passed the historic Resolution 2758 to “restore all its rights to the People’s Republic of China and to recognize the representatives of its Government as the only legitimate representatives of China to the United Nations, and to expel forthwith the representatives of Chiang Kai-shek from the place which they unlawfully occupy at the United Nations and in all the organizations related to it”.

Since then, “there is only one China in the world”, and “Taiwan is an integral part of China” have become a mainstream consensus of the international community.

The endeavors to expand Taiwan’s international space in this way will be an impossible mission considering the UN’s decision-making mechanism. But besides souring Sino-US ties further, such moves risk dividing the UN and rendering it dysfunctional.