2024-01-12 13:59:30
MONDE – The presidential election this weekend in Taiwan is rekindling tensions between Beijing and Washington. China takes a very dim view of the sending of an American delegation to Taipei on the occasion of the election and calls on the United States “not to interfere in the elections in the Taiwan region, in any form whatsoever. or, in order to avoid seriously damaging relations” between the two superpowers. Taipei instead denounces the “repeated interference” from China, which must stop “meddling” in these presidential elections. Beijing affirms that “on the issue of the island, China will never make the slightest compromise or concession”.
Beijing claims to be the sole legitimate government of China and claims all territories administered by Taiwan, officially called the Republic of China. The island does not have a seat in the United Nations. Beijing says it favors “peaceful” reunification with the island, without ever renouncing the use of military force. China has been maintaining pressure for years, including military pressure, on the autonomous territory, supported militarily and financially by Washington.
The United States, for its part, refuses to allow the status quo to be broken by force, but does not recognize Taiwan as a state. The White House considers the People’s Republic of China to be the only legitimate Chinese government.
“Taiwan is an inalienable part of China”, insists Beijing
The presidential elections on the autonomous island are reviving tensions between the two rivals, barely two months after they decided to “reestablish dialogue” during a visit by President Xi Jinping to his American counterpart Joe Biden in California. Bilateral relations had been tense since the presidency of Donald Trump and were further strained upon the arrival of Biden. And meager diplomatic progress at the end of 2022 was quickly eclipsed by a crisis in February 2023, after a Chinese balloon flew over American territory.
On Wednesday January 11, 2024, the Biden administration announced the sending of a delegation to Taiwan after the presidential election. A senior leader who requested anonymity recalled that Washington has regularly sent former ministers or former senior government officials to the island in recent years. The United States “is not taking sides in the election” and “its policy regarding Taiwan will remain the same and our strong informal relationship will continue,” she said.
But Beijing does not share this perception. The Chinese government has expressed its “firm opposition” to ties between Uncle Sam and Taipei in the run-up to this election. The United States should “not interfere in the Taiwan region’s elections in any form to avoid seriously damaging Sino-American relations,” warned Mao Ning, a ministry spokesperson. Chinese Foreign Affairs. “There is only one China in the world, and Taiwan is an inalienable part of China,” she said.
The senior American leader, for her part, described as “provocation” any Chinese attempt to “respond to the result of the election with more military pressure or coercive actions”. Mao Ning responded by expressing “his deep dissatisfaction”, denouncing “thoughtless comments”. “The Taiwan issue lies at the heart of China’s fundamental interests and constitutes the first impassable red line in Sino-US relations.”
An independentist given favorite for the presidency
Beijing’s attitude irritates Taiwan, which called this Thursday, January 11, 2024, through its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joseph Wu, to “stop meddling” in the presidential election on the island. “Taiwan’s upcoming elections attract international attention and China’s repeated interference steals the spotlight,” he wrote in a post
The day before the statement, China’s Defense Ministry said senior military officials urged their U.S. counterparts in Washington in discussions earlier this week to “stop arming” Taipei, which has Elsewhere equipped in September 2023 with its first nationally manufactured military submarine. Beijing also asked Washington to “reduce its military presence and provocative actions in the South China Sea.”
The Ministry of Defense says it demands from the United States “respect for the principle of one China” and to keep “their promise in a concrete way by stopping arming Taiwan and opposing any independence” of the island. .
In Taiwan, which is home to some 23 million inhabitants, it is Vice-President William Lai, a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for independence, who is favored to succeed current President Tsai Ing- wen, from the same political party.
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