The White House is risking China’s scare by sending an “unofficial” delegation to Taiwan after Saturday’s election amid concerns about Beijing’s interference in the self-governing island.
A senior administration tried to downplay the delegation, saying there is “a decade-long tradition” of sending envoys, so “this is nothing new.”
Still experts fear Beijing would find the move suspicious, especially after their meeting in San Francisco in November, Chinese President Xi Jinping told President Joe Biden that the mainland will reunite with Taiwan. Jinping also said in a New Year’s speech that China’s “reunification” with Taiwan is inevitable.
Taiwan will hold its elections on Saturday as the White House worries about Chinese interference
The Taiwan elections will feature Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, Hou Yu-ih of the main opposition Kuomintang party and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party.
China is wary of Lai, who has ties to the wing of the DPP that advocates formalizing Taiwan’s independence.
The White House made clear in a briefing with reporters Wednesday evening that it supports the status quo.
‘We do not support Taiwan’s independence. “We support cross-strait dialogue and expect that cross-strait differences will be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the strait,” it said. senior government official.
“There should be no unilateral changes on either side of the status quo.”
Under the “One China” policy, the US recognizes Beijing as the government of China and does not maintain diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but continues to maintain that Taipei is an important partner in the Indo-Pacific. Beijing claims the island as its territory.
The United States is Taiwan’s main international backer and arms supplier, despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties.
The official warned that disruption of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait would “seriously harm the global economy and the spillover would affect all economies around the world.”
Bloomberg Economics estimated that a war over Taiwan would have a price tag of about $10 trillion, equivalent to about 10% of global GDP.
President Joe Biden met one-on-one with Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November
A campaign poster of Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, whom China is wary of amid reports that Lai supports Taiwan’s independence
Hou Yu-ih of the main opposition Kuomintang party is also a candidate
The composition of the delegation has not yet been determined, the official said.
Two years ago, Biden sent retired Admiral Michael Mullen, former chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Michèle Flournoy, a former top Pentagon official, as an “unofficial” delegation to Taiwan.
The aim was to reassure Taipei amid concerns that Beijing would try to take advantage of Washington’s focus on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to increase pressure on Taiwan.
Meanwhile, Taiwan has accused China of “economic coercion” ahead of this weekend’s elections after Beijing threatened the island with new trade measures.
The White House official said the administration has “serious concerns” about election interference but expressed confidence that Taiwan could have a democratically elected government.
“We have been quite clear in our communications with Beijing and publicly about any kind of interference. we are deeply concerned that this will disrupt legitimate democratic political processes. And it would certainly portray Beijing as a provocateur in these elections,” the official said.
‘I think it is no secret that Beijing has a vision of the outcome of the elections and that the country is trying to shape and set course in different ways. But what I want to convey here is that we are confident in demonstrating the democratic electoral process in Taiwan,” the official continued.
A supporter of the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party waves the national flag during a campaign rally
The third candidate in the Taiwan elections is Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan People’s Party
Taiwan’s government has accused China of election meddling and has used everything from military activities to trade sanctions to sway the vote toward candidates Beijing may favor.
The government has complained since last month about Chinese balloons flying across the Taiwan Strait, some of which have crossed the island, in what Taiwan’s Defense Ministry has called an attempt at psychological warfare.
China has portrayed the election as a choice between war and peace, saying the interference allegations are “dirty tricks” by Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to try to win support.