Tsai speaks in the US, behind closed doors

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen wasted no time since landing in New York on Wednesday, delivering a speech shortly after arrival with a second set due Thursday night.

But it has been difficult to nail down the details.

The controversy”transit” through the largest city in the United States, en route, apparently, to official visits to Taiwanese allies Guatemala and Belize, takes place partly behind closed doors, without the press being invited.

“They are very serious about keeping this event private,” said Patrick Cronin, president of Asia-Pacific security at the Hudson Institute, which will host Tsai’s speech at the Intercontinental Hotel.

Taiwanese officials, Cronin told Radio Free Asia, did not want to create “unnecessary pressure and dissent” with a public speech, and Tsai will also receive a global leadership award.

“TECRO set the rules,” he said, referring to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, the Taiwan Office. in fact embassy. “It’s not Hudson who makes the rules,” he said, but “the government of Taiwan.”

careful diplomacy

Tsai seems to be walking a fine line, making Taiwan’s case against Beijing during her trip and avoiding pushing it too hard. Chinese officials have already warned of “countermeasures” after the visit, and even a “serious, serious, serious confrontation.”

Each of Tsai’s six previous “transits” through the United States – one in 2016, two in 2017, one in 2018 and two in 2019 – have attracted much less attention and come at a time of relative calm in relations between United States and China.

Dennis Wilder, a research fellow at the US-China Dialogue on Global Affairs at Georgetown University and a former CIA deputy assistant director for East Asia and the Pacific, told RFA on Tuesday that the “type of events” Tsai has this time would shape Beijing’s reaction. .

“For example,” Wilder said, “if she were to give speeches where there would be live coverage of the speech, it would be a new type of step; if she gave speeches that were inflammatory in any way from Beijing’s point of view… we could see a harsh reaction.”

The few snippets of Tsai’s visit that have taken place in public view so far have been largely tame, avoiding Taiwan independence and other issues that could complicate US-China relations.

In an earlier speech to supporters after arriving on Wednesday, Tsai thanked the United States for its support and vowed to continue working with Taiwan’s partners in the face of threats from Beijing.

“Right now, our alliances with the United States and other democracies are more critical than ever,” Tsai said in the speech. “We know we are stronger when we stand together in solidarity with other democracies. Taiwan cannot be isolated.”

thawing relationships

His trip comes at a tense time for ties between Washington and Beijing, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. cancel a trip to Beijing at the last minute on February 4 after an alleged Chinese spy balloon was discovered floating in the United States.

However, US officials insist the trip was only “postponed” and there are already signs that Beijing and Washington are seeking a new date.

Rick Waters, deputy assistant secretary of state for China and Taiwan and head of the State Department’s “House of China,” paid a visit to China last week and met with his Chinese counterparts in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, said the Tuesday department spokesman Vedant Patel. .

“It was a working-level discussion,” Patel said, “about a wide range of issues that we have in relation to our bilateral relationship.”

Such a thawing gives US officials reason to avoid an incident.

In a call with reporters about Tsai’s trip Thursday morning, Daniel Kritenbrink, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said US officials had offered guidance to their Taiwanese counterparts on the “transit” of Tsai through the United States.

But he declined to say whether they had discouraged public speaking.

“We are committed to ensuring that President Tsai’s seventh transit through the United States runs smoothly and successfully, and we have worked closely with many of our Taiwanese friends and counterparts to ensure that is the case.” Krittenbrink said.

“If you have any questions about the details of any events that will take place during President Tsai’s transits,” he said, “I would refer you to the Taiwan authorities and to people associated with the event itself.”

cutting room floor

Even with the private nature of Tsai’s speeches, attacks by Chinese officials about the visit have continued since his arrival.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning told reporters in a news conference in Beijing on Thursday that the trip “seriously undermines China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and sends a seriously misguided message to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatists.”

“This shows once again that the root cause of the new round of tensions in the Taiwan Strait is the repeated attempt by the Taiwanese authorities to solicit US support for Taiwanese independence and the fact that some in the US they intend to use Taiwan to contain China.” Mao said.

“The Taiwan issue is the very core of China’s fundamental interests,” he added, “the foundation of the political foundation of China-US relations, and the first red line that must not be crossed in the relationship.”

Xu Xueyuan, charge d’affaires of the Chinese embassy in Washington, also said that Tsai’s visit could cause a “serious confrontation.”

“The so-called ‘transit’ is simply a disguise for their true intention to seek breakthrough and uphold Taiwan’s independence,” Xu was quoted as saying by Axios. Tsai’s trip, he added, “could lead to a serious, serious, serious confrontation in the US-China relationship.”

Round-trip ticket

The worst of Beijing may be yet to come.

Tsai leaves New York for Guatemala at 11 a.m. Friday and returns to Los Angeles on Tuesday, where she will give another speech and meet with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, echoing the former president’s visit. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi to the home rule island last year. .

Such a meeting will be seen as a “provocation” by the United States, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesman for China’s State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said this week as he threatened “countermeasures.”