Why Taiwan Is a Sensitive and Strategic Issue for China and the US
The Complex Dynamics of the Taiwan Issue
Sept 22 (Reuters) - Chinese President Xi Jinping is expected to call for the US to halt arms sales to Taiwan when he meets President Donald Trump in Washington this week.
China calls Taiwan its single most important and sensitive issue as it concerns Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity not to be questioned or interfered with by outsiders.
This is why the issue of Taiwan is such an important matter for Beijing:
China's Position on Taiwan
WHAT IS CHINA'S POSITION ON TAIWAN?
Historical Claims and Sovereignty
China says Taiwan has been Chinese territory since ancient times. Taiwan was briefly its own province under the Qing dynasty, from 1885 to 1895, when it was ceded to Japan following a war.
At the end of World War Two in 1945, Taiwan was handed over to the Republic of China government.
Post-Civil War Perspective
Beijing views Taiwan as an unresolved matter from the Chinese civil war, which saw the defeated Republic of China government flee to the island in 1949 after losing to Mao Zedong's communists, who founded the People's Republic in the same year.
Current Stance and Red Lines
Beijing calls Taiwan a Chinese province with no right to claim to be a country and has never renounced the use of force to bring it under its control, though says it would prefer "peaceful reunification".
China says Taiwan is its "core of core interests" and a red line that cannot be crossed, routinely criticising any high-level engagements between foreign leaders and Taipei as an interference in China's internal affairs.
China's Reaction to US Engagement with Taiwan
HOW HAS CHINA REACTED TO PAST US ENGAGEMENT WITH TAIWAN?
Military Exercises and Diplomatic Protests
China launched major war games around Taiwan in 2022 shortly after then-US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, and has since held several other rounds of exercises in response to US engagements with Taiwan.
China's last major war games near the island were in late December. Earlier that month, the Trump administration approved an $11 billion arms sales package to Taiwan, its largest ever.
Taiwan's Position
WHAT IS TAIWAN'S POSITION?
Democratic Identity and Rejection of Beijing's Claims
Taiwan is a thriving democracy whose government strongly rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. Taiwan says it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, which remains the island's formal name, and has a right to engage with the rest of the world and choose its own leaders.
Taiwan says the People's Republic of China has never ruled the island even for a single day and has no right to claim to represent it or exercise any kind of sovereignty.
Cross-Strait Relations
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te has repeatedly offered talks with China, but has been rebuffed.
Neither the Chinese nor Taiwanese governments officially recognise the other and China refuses to refer to Lai as "president", saying he is a "separatist".
Independence Stance
Lai has said that, given Taiwan is already an independent country, there is no need to separately declare formal independence.
The US Perspective
WHAT IS THE US VIEW?
Diplomatic Position and Legal Obligations
The US severed official ties with Taipei in favour of Beijing in 1979 but is bound by the Taiwan Relations Act to provide the island with the means to defend itself. The US officially takes no position on Taiwan's sovereignty under Washington's "One China" policy.
The Six Assurances
In 2022, the US State Department also added wording on the Six Assurances, referring to six Reagan-era security assurances given to Taiwan, which the United States declassified in 2020.
Among the assurances made in 1982, but never previously formally made public, are statements that the US has not set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, nor agreed to prior consultation with Beijing on such sales, or to revise the Taiwan Relations Act that underpins US policy towards the island.
China has repeatedly demanded that the U.S. end arms sales to Taiwan.
US Engagement with Taiwan
HOW DOES THE US ENGAGE WITH TAIWAN?
De Facto Relations and Diplomatic Protocols
The US maintains a large de facto embassy in Taipei called the American Institute in Taiwan and the two have close economic and security ties.
Taiwan presidents only visit the US on what are termed "transits" on the way to and from diplomatic allies in Latin America and the Caribbean, though they always use the opportunity to meet friendly US lawmakers.
Presidential Communications
The United States and Taiwanese presidents do not talk to each other directly, though Trump said in May he would call Lai. That has yet to happen.
In late 2016, President-elect Trump held a 10-minute call with then President Tsai Ing-wen. China reacted relatively mildly, issuing a diplomatic complaint and blaming Taiwan for engaging in a "petty action".
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry)
