US group urges Taiwan's Lai to keep calm and carry on with the cross-strait status quo

A delegation from the United States has arrived in Taiwan in a show of America's continued support for Taipei, two days after the self-ruled island elected a new president.

The delegation, led by former national security adviser Stephen Hadley and former deputy secretary of state James Steinberg, landed on the island on Sunday amid warnings from Beijing that the election of William Lai Ching-te would increase the risk of conflict.

Observers said that aside from showing support for the new administration which takes office in May, the trip was also an attempt by the White House to head off any plans by the Lai leadership to alter the balance of cross-strait relations.

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Sent by the administration of US President Joe Biden, members of the group met Lai and incumbent President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday to assess post-election developments first-hand.

In separate closed-door meetings, the retired officials told Lai and Tsai that US-Taiwan relations would remain on a firm footing under the new administration.

"We look forward to continuity in the relationship between Taiwan and the United States under the new administration, and for common efforts to preserve cross-strait peace and stability," Hadley said in a meeting with Tsai.

Steinberg also said their visit underscored "bipartisan US support" for the island.

Taiwan has built exceptionally strong ties with the US since Tsai was elected president in 2016. Tsai, who has rejected Beijing's one-China principle, has sought to ally with Washington to counter threats from the mainland.

Beijing, which sees Taiwan as a part of China to be reunited by force if necessary, has suspended official talks and exchanges with Taipei to try to pressure Tsai, of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, to accept the one-China principle.

Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

When asked last week about the delegation's visit, Beijing urged Washington not to send the "wrong signals" to Taiwan.

Tsai, who will end her second four-year term in May, welcomed the visit by the delegation, saying it showed the US' support for Taiwan's democracy and highlighted the close partnership between the two sides.

The delegation later met Lai and vice-president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's former de facto ambassador to the US.

In a statement from Lai's office after the meeting, the president-elect said democracy and freedom were the core values of Taiwan. He also highlighted Beijing's threats against Taipei during their talks.

"Although China continues to intimidate Taiwan with military and grey-zone operations, Taiwan is still able to deal with it calmly and work together with the US and other international partners who support the status quo of stability in the Taiwan Strait," Lai said.

Lai's win in the election upset Beijing, which sees the pro-independence DPP nominee as unacceptable and an "obstinate splittist", openly accusing him of bringing the risk of war to Taiwan.

Observers said the delegation's visit - which Washington stressed was unofficial and was in line with practice - was meant to ensure that nothing would go wrong following the island's election.

"The group is expected to reiterate the Biden administration's position that it does not support Taiwan independence, nor would it want to see any change of the cross-strait status quo by either side of the Taiwan Strait," said Huang Kwei-bo, a professor of diplomacy at National Chengchi University in Taipei.

Huang said Biden and other senior White House officials had already expressed such a position but the delegation wanted to repeat the US stand in face-to-face meetings with Tsai and Lai to ensure that the status quo would not be changed.

Lai has been seen as part of the hardcore pro-independence camp and, during his stint as the mayor of the southern city of Tainan, advocated for Taiwan independence.

While premier in 2017, he also described himself as a "pragmatic worker for Taiwan independence", though he softened his stand during the election campaign by saying he had no plan to declare independence of the island.

Huang said the visit was meant as a pre-emptive move to prevent things from getting out of control.

"The visit also serves to show that US support for Taiwan's democratic development remains unchanged and also to tell the mainland authorities that there is nothing to worry about as the US has kept things under control," Huang said.

Max Lo, executive director of the Taiwan International Strategic Study Society, said the visit signalled that Washington - which was trying to improve relations with Beijing - did not want cross-strait relations to continue to escalate because it would hamper its efforts to ease confrontation with the mainland.

"The last thing the US wants to see is an uncontrollable situation in the Taiwan Strait, especially when Biden is running for re-election," Lo said.

Also on Monday, Taiwan suffered a diplomatic setback, severing diplomatic relations with Nauru following the Pacific island nation's decision to reestablish ties with Beijing. It leaves Taipei with just 12 formal allies.

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.