What is Taiwan issue: Why it matters the most?

Global Lenses

US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has ended her controversial visit to the self-ruled island by standing up to Taiwan in opposition to China, prompting an angry response from Beijing. Nancy Pelosi has become the most senior US politician to visit Taiwan in 25 years. The US House speaker spent less than a day on the self-ruled island, but China, which claims Taiwan as part of its territory, called the trip a direct challenge to its sovereignty.

Beijing had issued threats and warnings before Pelosi touched down, but America's third most powerful politician was undeterred, saying Washington was committed to protecting Taiwan's democracy. China is responding with live-fire, military exercises, and bans on imports of Taiwanese products. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's high-profile visit to Taiwan has been fraught with both complications and contradictions.

America's third most powerful politician also respects Beijing's so-called One China policy, reiterating Washington's commitment to protecting democracy on the self-governing island. Today the world is faced with a choice between democracy and dictatorship. America remains committed to protecting democracy here in Taiwan and around the world.

Taiwan President Xi Jinping, who awarded Pelosi one of the country's highest civilian honors, pledged to defend the island from Beijing's threats.

"Aggression against Democratic Taiwan will have a profound impact on the security of the entire Indo-Pacific, which is faced with deliberately heightened military threats. Taiwan will not back down. We will firmly uphold our national sovereignty and democracy."

China, which considers Taiwan part of its territory, has said it wants peaceful reunification and sees Pelosi's visit as a direct provocation.

"Taiwan's assertion that Wen and his people are clinging to us and turning their backs on national justice. These behaviors that are against the trend of the times will not change the international consensus of a China and this historical trend. Taiwan will inevitably return to morherland. Those who insult China will be punished," said Chinese Foreign minister.

Even during Pelosi's visit, China's response was swift and severe, suspending imports and exports of many goods to and from Taiwan. Conducting joint air and naval exercises near Taiwan and summoning the US ambassador to Beijing. Pelosi's trip has come to an end, but with Sino-US relations at such a low ebb, it remains unclear what the long-term impact of the visit will be.

US-Taiwan relations:

Let's take a closer look at US relations with Taiwan. Washington does not maintain formal diplomatic relations with the island, but maintains what it calls a policy of strategic ambiguity. It recognizes the Chinese government in Beijing, but not China's territorial claim to Taiwan. The US provides arms to Taipei under its Taiwan Relations Act of 1979. The island is a major economic and technology partner of the United States. It supplies more than half of the world's semiconductors. China views Taiwan as a separate province that will eventually be unified and has not ruled out the use of force.

Visit by Nancy Pelosi:

This is a really bad move on Nancy Pelosi's part because she came in when bilateral relations between China and the US were already at an all-time low. Apart from this, the world is also facing pandemic, Ukraine, energy and many other crises. China doesn't want to see this happen for Nancy Pelosi's personal gain because she is branded anti-China. This also does not bode well for the development of China-US relations. This is not only going to harm the US-China region, but it will also start a series of crises in the Taiwan Strait. It's really challenging status-quo and it's going to have a lot of consequences in the future that we can really see the deterioration of these relationships. (Henry)

Nancy Pelosi's reception in Taiwan: What does her visit mean for Taiwan?

She has been a supporter of democracy. She has shown support for democracy in both China and Taiwan in the past, and what stands out is that Pelosi has a great track record when it comes to supporting human rights and democracy around the world. When we see her coming to Taiwan, the status quo is challenged. Newt Gingrich visited Taiwan as Speaker in 1997. At the time, the Chinese did not send fighter jets, did not announce direct fire drills, and did not engage in economic sanctions. It becomes a bit ridiculous to say that China has changed. As it has been done before, the response this time is greater and beyond what we saw last time. So, clearly something has changed within the CCP. It is hard to imagine a scenario where countries around the region and Taiwan are not going to respond. (Vincent)

Was Taiwan part of China?

China has long been concerned with the status quo and the Taiwan Strait and has been talking about a series of provocations and a timetable for reunification, which it calls reunification even though Taiwan has never been part of the People's Republic of China. I was amazed at the attempt to rewrite history. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said that Taiwan has always been a province of China. This is simply not true. When Japan annexed it and made it a Japanese colony, it was declared a province for less than 10 years in the Qing dynasty. Lying about the facts will not help calm the situation. Pelosi's visit was designed as a show of support against China's efforts to change the status quo. (June)

Why does Taiwan matter? Geopolitics and Taiwan:

 This is important for several reasons. One of the reasons Nancy Pelosi gives is that she has always been a strong supporter of democracy around the world, as is the United States in general, which immediately pits her against China, which defends authoritarianism. The second reason is strategic. Taiwan is strategically important as it forms part of the first Island Chain of defense against People's Liberation Army aggression. Chinese military strategists have called Taiwan a buckle in the chain that keeps the People's Liberation Army bottled up behind the first island chain, and seizing Taiwan means gaining access to a very important port, Taichung. And accessing the entrance– specifically called an entrance to the blue Pacific Ocean and Guam. Guam is a US territory and is halfway to Hawaii that worries American strategic planners.

First Island Chain animation: Click to Watch on world map

Legitimacy of the US stance:

This is really breaking the pattern and norm of the past four or five decades and challenging the status quo because the dialogue established by China and the United States in 1979 stated that the United States could maintain cultural and trade relations with Taiwan, but won’t make it official. This is a very clear statement therein. This was the condition that established diplomatic relations between the United States and China and 181 countries around the world.

Is Pelosi's visit tantamount to establishing diplomatic ties with Taiwan?

Pelosi is the third-highest-ranking official in the United States and this is an official visit. Also, Taiwan has been part of China for a long time. This is the first time I have heard that this island was not part of China. This is really nonsense. Thus, Pelosi has really broken that pattern and that's why China always responds. China didn't instigate it, Nancy Pelosi did. However, the military exercises around Taiwan would be merely a response. (Henry)

Are Taiwanese worried about the live-fire drills?

Unfortunately, incitement and military intimidation and to a certain extent repression have become a part of daily life here in Taipei. We have indeed seen an increase in tensions with military jets, flying over our air defense identification zone, economic repression measures including recently banning certain food products etc. It has become a part of normal life which has its disadvantages. One point I must emphasize is that if we take the view of China as the People's Republic of China, Taiwan has never been part of the PRC and that is a historical fact. There has never been a People's Liberation Army soldier in Taiwan. So, it becomes very absurd to say that this island had been a part of China for a long time. Secondly, as per the Taiwan Relations Act and the three Communiques, nowhere in any of these documents is it mentioned that the Speaker cannot visit Taiwan. So, we have to be very clear because we don't want to stumble into the next crisis based on hearsay and word of mouth. We must be very clear about what is in the text and whether the status quo is being maintained. When we have a visit by the Speaker of the House that took place 25 years ago, it becomes very difficult for us in 2022 to say that this is completely against the status quo. (Vincent)

President Joe Biden sparked controversy

in May when he publicly said the US

would defend Taiwan if Beijing attacked.

Biden was asked whether, since he did not want to get involved militarily in the Ukraine conflict for obvious reasons, he was willing to get involved militarily to defend Taiwan. He said:

"Yes!... That's the commitment we've made... We agree with the One China policy. We've signed it and all the attendant agreements from there, but the idea that It can be taken by force, can only be taken by force, it's just not appropriate. It will destabilize the whole region and lead to another action like what happened in Ukraine."

Is the Biden administration confused about its policy?

This may be a mistake, but what China is actually doing is insisting on the definition of "One China Policy" which means that there is, but one China with its capital in Beijing and Taiwan is a part of it. This is not what the US signed up to. The Shanghai Communiqué clearly states that the United States recognizes that this is the Chinese approach. It did not say that the US agreed with China. Thus, China is trying to change what the United States meant in the Shanghai Communiqué. In fact, it has been trying to change the status quo for years and always gets pushback. United States public opinion strongly supports Taiwan's ability to determine its own future. Many of Taiwan's top officials were educated in the United States, and it is very important for us not to let the death of a democracy that has been a good friend of the United States. (June)

Henry Wang's position:

All people in the Taiwan Strait recognize that they are Chinese. We also have the 1992 consensus. There was even a meeting of Taiwanese leaders between President Xi and former President Ma Ying-jeou. Certainly, People of both places share same culture, language, food and heritage.

If this is a bilateral dispute between us and China or what are its global implications?

It has a tremendous impact on the global stage. China is the country that stabilizes the world economy. China contributes more than one-third of global GDP. It is the largest trading nation with 130 countries and even as the trade war continues, China's exports to the US have increased over the years. In fact, we are facing a Russian crisis in Ukraine and we also have a pandemic going on. Meanwhile, the world needs both America and China. They have a greater responsibility to see the world really moving in the right direction. We really don't want to get involved in the domestic politics of making China the scapegoat. We also see that in the five high-level talks and meetings between the president and Biden, they all agreed with “One China policy”, they don't want a cold war and they don't want to control China. But let's not express just words but also take actions. (Henry)

China has responded with a ban

on imports of Taiwanese products.

Can Taiwan afford the economic price it is now being forced to pay?

Taiwan has far-reaching economic and trade ties with China. It is an unfortunate fact that the majority of trade is with China and that the latter is a major center of Taiwanese business and an important part of Taiwan's economy. This is a bit disappointing when both China and Taiwan are WTO members. When we see arbitrary trade laws imposed on the products of crime without due process, we see that trade is really being played as an economic card against this relationship, and clearly it is very painful for all counties and businesses. But we have to put it in perspective that Taiwan is an industrial powerhouse. It is a high-tech society and obviously trade over agriculture is essential. Agriculture provides many jobs in Taiwan. This is one aspect of many multidimensional relationship. I end on the note that this trade dispute with China has really highlighted the need for why visits like Pelosi's are so important because Taiwan needs economic diversification funds and as a free market capitalist society. It needs to provide incentives, preferably through free trade agreements. So, this is something that we are looking at very closely and we hope that we can make progress on a free trade agreement with the United States in the future. (Vincent)

Vincent Chao, Former Director of the Political Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States.

June Teufel Dreyer, Professor of Political Science, University of Miami.

Henry Huiyao Wang, Founder and President, Center for China and Globalization.