The administration Trump is aware of the risks of climbing on the question of Taiwan, one of the most sensitive to the leadership of the chinese communist Party.
The u.s. secretary of Health Alex Azar, arrived Sunday in Taiwan, becoming the head of the us highest-ranking to visit on the island since Washington stopped to recognize it in 1979. His delegation was asked at the airport Songshan Taipei, kicking off a three-day visit, which was condemned by Beijing.
The head of the american diplomacy Mike Pompeo, a hawk who never misses an opportunity to denounce China or to say that Donald Trump is the president to be more firm in american history, gave proof of a prudence unusual this week about the visit of Azar. “Ministers have visited Taiwan in the past,” he said Wednesday during a press conference. Alex Azar “is going to go there to talk about questions of public health”, including the search for a vaccine against the new coronavirus, he added.
“to Get as close as possible to the red line chinese”
To Douglas Paal, who headed the american Institute in Taiwan during the presidency of George W. Bush, the administration Trump is aware of the risks of climbing on the question of Taiwan, one of the most sensitive to the leadership of the chinese communist Party. It did not cross the red line of Beijing : a visit to Taipei of u.s. officials in charge of national security issues.
summer Offer : Take advantage of the special offer 2 months for 1€ I subscribe
In the 1990s, american officials, foreign Trade, visited several times to Taiwan, ” he recalls. The difference this time, it is the context. Alex Azar goes to Taipei at a time when relations with China are at their worst. “Send it to Taiwan shows that one respects the system, while defying China,” he says. “The fact that they did not chose a national Security adviser or somebody like that shows they are trying to get as close as possible to the red line of the chinese, but they do not want to go through it.”
The people’s Republic of China considers Taiwan as one of its provinces. The island is governed by a regime opponent, who was a refugee after the seizure of power of the communists on the mainland in 1949, at the end of the chinese civil war.
READ ALSO >> How to TikTok has found itself at the heart of the confrontation between China and the United States
The policy of the administration to Trump in respect of the China hardened over a period of months, to the point that Mike Pompeo has recently said that 40 years of dialogue with Beijing had failed. And in recent days, Washington has adopted the sanctions against eleven leaders in hong kong, including the chief executive Carrie Lam, at the same time radical measures against the crown jewels of the digital chinese TikTok and WeChat.
To Douglas Paal, it is possible that the hawks within the administration to Trump lobby for initiatives that are even more spectacular before the presidential election on 3 November. “I see clear signs that the Chinese would see that as a possibility, and that they will do anything to avoid become entangled in this matter,” he said.
READ ALSO >> Taiwan or the other dream chinese
The United States broke their diplomatic relations with Taipei, the capital of the island, in order to recognize the communist government based in Beijing as the sole representative of China. They remain, however, with a certain ambiguity, an ally to the most powerful of the island territory and its main arms supplier. Washington approved last year in the sale for more than $ 8 billion in fighter jets to the island.
For Gerrit van der Wees, of the George Mason University, Donald Trump was hesitant to deepen ties with Taiwan, to full trade negotiations with Beijing. But the recent decision of the chinese regime, including the crackdown in Hong Kong, the mass arrests of Uighur muslims and the activities of the chinese navy in the south China sea have changed his mind.
Read our complete file
China, a giant in the global
american Presidential China: does it interest will lose Donald Trump ? Washington punishes leaders of hong Kong, new escalation of the conflict with china to Trump up the pressure against TikTok and WeChat, the China rose
“In this context, the administration Trump is concerned is actually less of the reactions of China, seeing instead the opportunity to support the more closely an island of Taiwan which has built a vibrant democracy and that is a positive force for the world,” he added.
