A high-level US delegation will meet with “leading politicians” in Taiwan on Monday, after voters elected William Lai Ching-te of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as the self-ruled island’s next president, ignoring warnings from Beijing.
Lai became Taiwan’s president-elect on Saturday following a tight race, beating Hou Yu-ih of the Kuomintang (KMT) and Ko Wen-je of the Taiwan’s People Party (TPP). The victory represents an unprecedented third consecutive term in power for the liberal DPP.
Lai, the incumbent vice-president, has vowed to continue outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen’s efforts to strengthen diplomatic ties with democratic allies and defend Taiwan from “threats and intimidation” by Beijing, which claims the democratic island as its own.
Explainer: Is Taiwan a country? The democratic island’s tangled history, and disputed status
His victory, and Saturday’s elections, prompted congratulations from the international community, including some of Taiwan’s most important strategic allies. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken praised the “robust democratic system and electoral process” in Taiwan and Japan hailed “smooth implementation” of the democratic election.
However, Beijing said the DPP “did not represent mainstream public opinion,” referring to Lai bagging only 40 per cent of the vote and the DPP failing to retain a majority in the legislature, adding that the result would not stop “the inevitable trend of China’s reunification.”
In a statement on Sunday, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the US’s de facto embassy in the island, said a delegation made up of former senior officials would arrive Taipei and meet with “a range of leading political figures” on Monday.
“As we have done previously following a Taiwan presidential election, the U.S. government has asked former senior officials to travel in their private capacity to Taiwan. Former National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley and former Deputy Secretary of State James B. Steinberg will arrive in Taipei on January 14,” the statement read, adding that AIT Chair Laura Rosenberger will accompany the pair.
The unofficial visit will “convey congratulations from the American people to Taiwan on its successful elections, support for Taiwan’s continued prosperity and growth, and our longstanding interest in cross-Strait peace and stability,” the statement added.
US praise for Taiwan election
The US visit followed Blinken’s remarks on Saturday, in which he also said the US is “committed to maintaining cross-Strait peace and stability, and the peaceful resolution of differences, free from coercion and pressure.”
He added: “The partnership between the American people and the people on Taiwan, rooted in democratic values, continues to broaden and deepen across economic, cultural, and people-to-people ties.”
But international media reported that President Joe Biden, when asked by reporters for Washington’s position on Taiwan, said: “We do not support independence.”
The US officially recognises a single China and has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but it maintains unofficial relations with the island and is bound by law to equip Taiwan with defensive weapons.
The Republic of China (ROC) government has ruled Taiwan since 1945 after Japan was defeated in World War II, ending 50 years of occupation. The ROC authorities fully retreated to the island in 1949 as the communist People’s Republic of China defeated them in the Civil War and took control of the mainland. Beijing has since claimed democratic Taiwan as one of its provinces, threatening to unify it by force if necessary.
See also: Explainer – Is Taiwan a country? The self-ruled island’s disputed status
Biden has vowed, four times, to defend the island from attack, though it is uncertain as to whether Washington would directly involve itself in a conflict. In 2022, when then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei, it prompted Beijing to step up its military exercises around the island.
‘Gravely wrong signal’
China on Sunday said it “strongly deplore and firmly oppose” Blinken’s statement, describing the secretary of state’s remarks as sending “a gravely wrong signal to the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces.”
“The US State Department’s statement on the election in China’s Taiwan region seriously violates the one-China principle… and goes against the US’ own political commitment to maintaining only cultural, commercial, and other unofficial relations with the people of Taiwan,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Hua Chunying said.
Ahead of Saturday’s polls, China had called Lai and his running mate, former Taiwanese representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim, as the “independence duo” and urged voters to sway away from the DPP pair.
“The Taiwan question is at the very core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China-US relations,” Hua said, demanding that the US “not seeking to use the Taiwan question as a tool to contain China.”
The position of Lai, Hsiao and the DPP is that Taiwan does not need to declare independence, as it is already an independent and sovereign nation.
‘Face reality’
In a response on Sunday, Taiwan instead told China to respect the election results. The island’s Foreign Ministry said over 50 nations had saluted Saturday’s elections, adding that the race had demonstrated the maturity and stability of Taiwan’s democratic system.
“The Foreign Ministry calls on Beijing to respect election results, face reality, and give up on suppressing Taiwan, so that cross-strait interactions could be put on the right track,” a Chinese-language statement read.
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