Blinken ruffles feathers by stating US ‘does not support Taiwan independence’ after meeting China’s Xi By Caitlin Doornbos
WASHINGTON – Secretary of State Antony Blinken raised eyebrows Monday, telling reporters the US “does not support Taiwan independence” after meeting in Beijing with officials including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Blinken’s statement ruffled the feathers of many Republicans in Congress, who viewed the statement – and the secretary’s inability to re-establish military-to-military communications – as an inappropriate kowtow to America’s greatest adversary.
“Blinken flew to Communist China to appease Xi Jinping and state the Biden administration does not support Taiwan’s independence,” Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) said on Twitter. “Why won’t this administration stand up to bullies and stand for freedom?”
The Taiwan issue is among the most contentious in the US-China relationship, with Xi making it his No. 1 priority to “reunite” Taiwan with China — though the island about 100 miles off the country’s southeastern coast has never actually been part of it.
Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) tweeted that Blinken’s statement was a “dangerous display of weakness towards our adversaries on the world stage.”
“The Biden admin is giving China a green light to increase its intimidation of our ally, Taiwan,” he said.
However, Taiwan is not a formal ally of the United States – though the Biden administration has repeatedly said the US would come to the self-governed democratic island’s defense if China were to attack.
Instead, the US adheres to a so-called “One China policy,” which does not take a formal position on the status of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
What is the One China policy?
Washington’s “One China policy,” which has been critical for maintaining peace in East Asia since it took effect in the late 1970s, holds that the US acknowledges – but does not necessarily agree with – Beijing’s opinion that Taiwan is its sovereign territory.
Instead, the policy holds that the US considers Taiwan’s sovereignty status unsettled, and successive presidential administrations have held that the US favors no change to the “status quo” of relations between China and Taiwan.
However, the US also allows for its military to come to Taiwan’s defense should Beijing attempt to take Taiwan by force, something both the Trump and Biden administrations stated repeatedly as US-China tensions began heating up in 2016.
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