{"id":45131,"date":"2021-04-10T03:23:18","date_gmt":"2021-04-10T03:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45131"},"modified":"2021-04-10T03:23:18","modified_gmt":"2021-04-10T03:23:18","slug":"us-loosens-restrictions-on-taiwan-contacts-in-defiance-of-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=45131","title":{"rendered":"US loosens restrictions on Taiwan contacts in defiance of China"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The State Department has announced that it will make it easier for US officials to meet Taiwanese representatives, defying pressure from China at a time of high tensions, and as the US Congress considers sweeping legislation to counter Beijing\u2019s influence.<\/p>\n

The United States still considers Beijing to be China\u2019s legitimate government, consistent with its switch of recognition in 1979, but will do away with some of the convoluted rules that restricted dealings with Taiwan, including in-person meetings.<\/p>\n

The updated guidance \u201cunderscores Taiwan is a vibrant democracy and an important security and economic partner that is also a force for good in the international community,\u201d State Department spokesman Ned Price said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese new guidelines liberalize guidance on contacts with Taiwan, consistent with our unofficial relations,\u201d he said in a statement.<\/p>\n

The move by President Joe Biden\u2019s administration formalises increasingly vocal US support for Taiwan, a self-governing democracy, and came in response to an act of Congress that required a review.<\/p>\n

Taiwan\u2019s mission in Washington \u2013 officially called the \u201cTaipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States\u201d, rather than an embassy \u2013 welcomed the new guidelines, saying they reflected a bipartisan consensus for closer relations.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaiwan and the US share a deep and abiding partnership based on our common values and joint interests,\u201d it said, pointing to cooperation on global health, space, trade and democracy promotion.<\/p>\n

Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a staunch critic of Beijing, in his last days in office, said that he was getting rid of previous guidelines on dealing with Taiwan but not issue new ones, drawing confusion in some quarters on what had changed.<\/p>\n

Open meetings<\/h2>\n

Under the guidelines issued by the Biden administration, US officials will be allowed to invite Taiwanese representatives into government buildings in Washington or attend working-level meetings at the Taiwanese mission, both of which were previously prohibited, a State Department official said.<\/p>\n

The US began allowing open interactions with Taiwanese diplomats after Pompeo ended the earlier guidance.<\/p>\n

The Biden administration last month sent the US ambassador to Palau on a visit to Taiwan to accompany the president of the island nation \u2013 one of a dwindling number of countries that recognise Taipei. The ambassador was the highest-ranking US diplomat to visit Taiwan in 42 years.<\/p>\n

US Ambassador to Palau John Hennessey-Niland, right, attend a news conference in Taipei with Palau President Surangel Whipps, centre, Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu, left. Niland became the highest-ranking American diplomat to visit Taiwan in 42 years [File: Ann Wang\/Reuters]<\/figure>\n

Similarly, the acting US ambassador in Japan in March tweeted a picture of himself meeting at his official residence with his Taiwanese counterpart \u2013 the type of day-to-day diplomacy that is usually a non-event but which Washington had previously shied away from with Taiwan for fear of upsetting Beijing.<\/p>\n

The new guidelines are also expected to relax the strict protocol on whether junior US officials can appear at Twin Oaks, the lush, forested residence of Taiwan\u2019s envoy in Washington.<\/p>\n

Twin Oaks events routinely draw a who\u2019s who of US lawmakers and former officials but sitting government employees are careful to steer clear.<\/p>\n

Senior US officials have periodically visited Taiwan, with former President Donald Trump\u2019s health secretary travelling in August, although Washington has remained careful not to anger China by sending cabinet members involved in national security.<\/p>\n

\u2018Self-defeating\u2019<\/h2>\n

On Monday, Beijing announced that the carrier group, lead by the Liaoning, the country\u2019s first aircraft carrier put into active service, carried out \u2018routine\u2019 drills in the waters near Taiwan [File: Bobby Yip\/Reuters]<\/figure>\n

China considers Taiwan, where the mainland\u2019s defeated nationalists fled in 1949 after losing the civil war, to be a territory awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.<\/p>\n

Taiwan in recent days reported growing air incursions by Beijing. Joseph Wu, Taiwan\u2019s foreign minister, has called the approach \u201cself-defeating.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US has voiced concern about the Chinese moves and warned against the use of coercion against Taiwan.<\/p>\n

Under the Taiwan Relations Act approved by Congress when the US switched recognition, Washington is required to provide Taiwan with weapons for its self-defence.<\/p>\n

The easing of rules comes amid soaring tensions between the US and China on multiple fronts.<\/p>\n

On Friday, the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee announced that it will consider sweeping legislation to counter China\u2019s influence on April 21.<\/p>\n

The \u201cStrategic Competition Act of 2021\u201d includes a range of diplomatic and strategic initiatives to counteract Beijing, reflecting hard-line sentiment on dealings with China members of both political parties.<\/p>\n

The 280-page bill addresses economic competition with China, but also humanitarian and democratic values, such as imposing sanctions for the treatment of the minority Muslim Uighurs and supporting democracy in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n

Relations with China is one of the most bipartisan issues in Washington, with both Democrats and Republicans generally backing efforts to do more to compete against Beijing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The State Department has announced that it will make it easier for US officials to meet Taiwanese representatives, defying pressure from China at a time of high tensions, and as the US Congress considers sweeping legislation to counter Beijing\u2019s influence. The United States still considers Beijing to be China\u2019s legitimate government, consistent with its switch…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spotlight_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45131\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}