Biden and Xi need to resume talks with Taiwan, think tank says
One analyst said the meeting between Biden and Xi at the G-20 summit in November is a good opportunity for the US and China to start rekindling relations.
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One analyst said the US and China need to reopen dialogue on the Taiwan issue – but such a dialogue should take place privately.
Paul Haenle, who holds the chair of Maurice R. Greenberg at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.
Cross-Strait tensions between China and Taiwan have become “increasingly dangerous” since US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in early August, he added.
Pelosi visited Taiwan despite China’s repeated warnings, prompting Beijing to take action military exercises in sea and space around the island and fired ballistic missiles over Taipei in August.
On top of that, in the same month, China announced that it had Military and climate talks unloaded with the United States.
Taiwan is a self-governing democracy, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory and a breakaway province.
“The Chinese pulled back from the dialogue after Pelosi’s visit. I frankly argue, you have to be open,” Haenle said.
However, US President Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping need to avoid public negotiations on the Taiwan issue, he added, “because when you put things out in the open, and you point to the side the other and you criticize and blame, it just works to dig deeper in that direction.”
“This has to happen at the highest levels among political leaders and it has to happen in quiet, discreet channels.”
Widening rift
China’s actions during Pelosi’s trip were an “overreaction” and the country’s aggressive stance towards Taiwan continues to be a “big problem”, said Nicholas Burns, US Ambassador to Beijing. learned on Thursday at the Milken Institute Asia Summit in Singapore.
“We have had the median line in the Taiwan Strait for 68 years, [and] it really keeps the peace. And they tried to erase that. We are really concerned that the party trying to change policy here is Beijing. And we warned them that we wouldn’t agree to that, [and] we don’t accept it,” he added.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told Chinese media in August that the US and its allies are overreacters.
“The US and its allies often go to the seas bordering China, straining their muscles and causing trouble. They conduct hundreds of military exercises every year. They, instead of anyone else, are the ones who react. outrageous and escalate the situation,” Ma said.
However, Burns said the US has not changed its stance on Taiwan and remains committed to the “One China” policy.
“I really don’t think the Chinese have any misunderstandings about US policy. They don’t agree with our policy, but we have a clear understanding of the policy,” Burns said. “”.
While neither of the three would like to see military conflict erupt, the views of the United States, China and Taiwan are constantly “different, not converging,” Haenle said.
Meeting at the G-20?
However, one meeting between Biden and Xi at the upcoming G-20 Summit in November Haenle said.
“I think they need to at least have a conversation and understand what steps each side is taking that is causing the other party the greatest concern,” he added.
“They need … to look each other in the eye and have conversations. Those are tough conversations.”