US delegation praises Taiwan’s democracy after pro-independence presidential candidate wins election
Taipei, Taiwan — Retired US officials met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday and praised the island’s democratic process that delivered a new president and legislature last weekend, despite China’s claim of sovereignty over Taiwan and its threat to to annex military force.
“Taiwan’s democracy is a shining example to the world, a democratic success story based on transparency, the rule of law and respect for human rights and freedoms,” said former National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley.
U.S. involvement in Taiwan is “rock solid,” he said.
Taiwan on Saturday elected current Vice President Lai Ching-te as the new head of government, a move likely to prompt China to maintain its military, diplomatic and economic threats against the island.
Hadley was joined by former Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg, who reaffirmed bipartisan support for Taiwan “based on our unofficial but warm relationship, our insistence on exclusively peaceful means to address the (Taiwan Strait) Crossing issue, the importance of dialogue and avoiding one-sided attempts to change the status quo.”
Tsai said after the election that Taiwan’s need to continue making progress remains unchanged.
“We hope that Taiwan-US relations will continue to develop and serve as an important driving force for regional and global prosperity and development,” she said.
Despite severing official diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979, the US remains the island’s most important diplomatic ally and source of military hardware and intelligence.
Taiwan’s presidential and parliamentary elections have always been a source of contention between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, which broke up during the 1949 civil war, sharpening the difference between Taiwan’s free-flowing democratic process and the Communist Party’s strict authoritarian rule. Party in China was enlarged.
That rift is a major flashpoint in U.S.-China relations that could potentially lead to actual war in the future, accentuated by China’s claim to virtually the entire South China Sea and competition for markets and diplomatic influence in the region Asia Pacific.
Lai’s victory was a setback for China’s efforts to control Taiwan. His Democratic Progressive Party advocates maintaining the status quo of de facto independence, under which the island’s 23 million residents carry Taiwanese passports, maintain their own government and defense, and issue their own currency, but are denied recognition at the United Nations from respect for China. .
China has refused to recognize the election results, leaving the legislature closely divided between the DPP and the nationalists, also known as the Kuomintang or KMT. China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on the election that “the Taiwan issue is China’s internal affair” and that “the basic fact that… Taiwan is part of China will not change.”
Taiwan said Beijing’s position is “completely inconsistent with international understanding and the current situation in the border area. It goes against the expectations of global democratic communities and the will of the Taiwanese people to uphold democratic values. Such clichés are not worth refuting.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken congratulated Lai on his victory, prompting the Chinese Foreign Ministry to say the message “sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces of Taiwan independence” and goes against the US commitment to maintain only unofficial ties with Taiwan.
Lai’s victory means the Democratic Progressive Party will hold the presidency for a third four-year term, after eight years under Tsai. Lai won a three-way race for the presidency with 40% of the vote, less than the clear majority Tsai won in 2020. He will take office in May.
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Associated Press video journalist Johnson Lai contributed to this report.