U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi arrives in Taiwan on August 2, 2022, in a controversial visit that has been strongly opposed by China.
The level of sensitivity to the island’s status even before Pelosi’s plane landed in the capital Taipei, reports of the proposed trip alone prompted China’s warning of “serious consequences.” Hours before she landed on the island, Chinese warplanes flew close to the centerline between Taiwan and China, while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi commented that American politicians “playing with fire” in Taiwan “will not end well”. “
As far as the US is concerned, it has moved away from the visit. Before the trip, President Joe Biden said it was “not a good idea.”
As someone who has long studied America’s delicate diplomatic dance on Taiwan, I understand why the visit has sparked reactions in both Washington and Beijing amid current tensions in the region. It also marks a continuation of the process of increasing U.S. political engagement with Taiwan — much to the chagrin of China.
sever diplomatic relations
The controversy over Pelosi’s visit to China stems from the “one China” policy, the US recognition of China and the diplomatic stance that Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of China. This policy has dominated US-Taiwan relations for more than 40 years.
In 1979, the United States abandoned its policy of recognizing the Taiwanese government as the government of all China, and instead recognized the mainland government.
As part of this change, the U.S. severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan, and the U.S. embassy in Taiwan was replaced by a non-governmental entity called the American Institute in Taiwan.
The institute is effectively an embassy — although until 2002, Americans assigned to the institute had to resign from the U.S. State Department to go there, and could only be rehired after their term ended. Contact between the two governments is technically unofficial.
As the Taiwanese government pursues democracy — from the lifting of martial law in 1987 to its first fully democratic election in 1996 — it changes the assumption that the Chinese and Taiwanese governments once held eventual reunification with the mainland. However, the Chinese government has never abandoned the “one China” concept and the legitimacy of Taiwan’s autonomy. That made direct contact between Taiwanese and U.S. representatives controversial among Chinese officials.
Indeed, in 1995, when Lee Teng-hui, Taiwan’s first democratically elected president, landed in Hawaii on his way to Central America, he didn’t even step on the tarmac. The U.S. State Department has warned that the president will be denied a U.S. entry visa but will allow brief, low-level receptions in airport lounges during refueling. Apparently feeling left out, Lee refused to leave the plane.
previous political visit
Two years after the incident, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan.
Similar to Pelosi’s visit, Gingrich’s visit has annoyed Beijing. But it was easier for the White House to distance itself from Gingrich — a Republican politician who visited Taiwan in his own capacity, apparently not on behalf of then-President Bill Clinton.
Pelosi’s visit is viewed differently in Beijing because she is a member of the same party as President Joe Biden. China may think she has Biden’s blessing, despite his comments to the contrary.
Asked on July 20 what he thought of Pelosi’s possible trip, Biden replied, “The military doesn’t think it’s a good idea right now.”
The comment echoes the White House’s earlier handling of Biden’s comments in May 2022 that the United States would intervene “militarily” if China invaded Taiwan. Officials in the Biden administration withdrew the comment, which would break long-standing ambiguous policy on what the United States would do if China tried to occupy Taiwan by force.
Similar to Pelosi, the White House is moving away from suggesting a shift in U.S.-Taiwan relations after the U.S. has been trying to rethink how it interacts with Taiwan.
change policy?
In 2018, Congress passed a bipartisan Taiwan Travel Act. This differs from the previous policy, as it allows for bilateral official visits between the US and Taiwan, although they are still considered subdiplomatic.
The bill made Donald Trump’s HHS secretary, Alex Azar, the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Taiwan since 1979. Then in 2020, Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy and Environment Keith Craher visited Taiwan.
In April 2022, a US congressional delegation will visit Taiwan. Pelosi herself was reportedly scheduled to visit the island the same month, but canceled after testing positive for COVID-19.
Each of those visits drew angry statements from Beijing.
At a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has raised questions about the international community’s commitment to protecting the smaller country from its more powerful neighbors, a high-profile visit — even one without the White House’s overt support — would show support for the island .
At the same time, the erosion of Hong Kong’s democracy has undermined China’s commitment to the “one country, two systems” philosophy. The principle, which allows Hong Kong to return to the mainland after British rule ends while maintaining its economic, political and social systems, has been cited as a model for unification with Taiwan. The Chinese Communist Party is also planning to hold its 20th congress in the coming months, making the timing of visits to Taiwan by prominent American politicians such as Pelosi sensitive.
Editor’s Note: This is an updated version of an article originally published on July 26, 2022.
Meredith Oyen, Associate Professor of History and Asian Studies, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original text.
Also read | Bill Russell’s NBA Championship Legacy and Fighting for Equal Rights
