According to Reuters, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department announced on the 12th that the State Department would cancel all foreign visits this week, including the visit of U.S. Ambassador Craft to the United Nations.
According to the report, Craft was scheduled to visit Taiwan from 13 to 15 this month. Pompeo said on the 12th that as part of the transition with the Biden administration, all foreign visits this week have been cancelled, including his own trip to Europe.
Craft’s trip to Taiwan appears to be another effort by the Trump administration to take a tough line on China before Biden took office, Reuters said. China has expressed its firm opposition to the visit.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said at a regular press conference on January 8 that our position on the issue of US-Taiwan exchanges is clear and consistent. The behavior of the United States seriously violates the one-China principle and the three Sino-US joint communiqués, and China firmly opposes it.
There is only one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the government of the People’s Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, which is a fact recognized by the international community.
The United States made a clear commitment in this regard in the Communiqué on the Establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States. China firmly opposes any form of official exchanges
the United States and Taiwan. This position is consistent and clear.
Previously reported
Taiwan awkwardly receives senior U.S. officials on a “graduation trip”
U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo has recently speculated on U.S.-Taiwan relations, and in the last days of Trump’s term, stirring up the Taiwan issue to the “highest heat”. On the 13th, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Craft, will visit Taiwan.
Public opinion on the island said bluntly that the timing and motivation of Kraft’s “graduation trip” full of discord were puzzling, which made Tsai Ing-wen’s authorities quite embarrassed.
“It must have come to collect protection fees”
According to a report by Taiwan’s China Times on the 12th, Craft will arrive in Taiwan by special plane at noon on the 13th. She is expected to stay for three days and two nights. The itinerary focuses on Thursday.
On this day, she will meet with Tsai Ing-wen and Taiwan’s “foreign minister” Wu Jiexie, and is scheduled to perform at the “School of Foreign Affairs and International Affairs” in Taiwan. Talk about communicating with Taiwan on international participation and United Nations affairs.
Craft has publicly expressed support for Taiwan’s participation in the United Nations, WHO and ICAO on many previous occasions, so some Green Campers expect her to help Taiwan’s “international participation”.
Wu Jiexie said that Kraft’s visit to Taiwan was mainly to discuss how to promote Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, which is an important thing for Taiwan.
China Times Electronic News said bluntly on the 12th that in order to solve the problem of Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, it is always not the answer to the United States alone, but the mainland is the key point.
What’s more, most of the United States only express verbal solidarity. They have never seen the United States take the lead in proposing to support Taiwan’s participation in the WHO or the United Nations General Assembly. “Ironically, we still need to help the United States. The country found the reason for not taking the initiative to propose. Therefore, Craft’s “three-day visit to Taiwan is like a gorgeous fireworks in an instant, and the greatest benefit is still announced by the Cai government”.
And for this “great internal declaration”, Tsai Ing-wen’s authorities naturally have to pay the price. Lin Zhengjie, a former “legislator” of the Democratic Progressive Party, said that Kraft came to Taiwan to exempt from quarantine and that Taiwan did not buy some coal with the United States seemed a little unintrodent.
According to United News Network, Craft and Wheeler, the director of environmental protection who cancelled his visit to Taiwan last December, “the same deep coal background makes people question whether it is for ‘clean coal'”.
The article said that under the dilemma that Tsai Ing-wen authorities give up the development of nuclear power and the development of green power is still difficult to make a major breakthrough, it can be foreseen that coal-fired power generation will still account for more than 30% of Taiwan Power’s total power generation in the future.
“How can the coal industry in the United States not be wrong with this big cake?” Netizens on the island questioned that Craft “must have come to help Trump collect protection fees”.
Pompeo denies that there are plans to visit Taiwan.
Just after announcing that Craft was going to visit Taiwan, U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo announced the lifting of restrictions on the exchange of U.S. and Taiwan officials. In response, the Global Times issued an editorial warning that if Pompeo “raided” Taiwan in the last 10 days of his term, Beijing would have a overwhelming response.
A spokesman for the U.S. State Department responded on Twitter that the Secretary of State will visit Europe this week as his last overseas visit, “there are no plans to visit Taiwan this week”.
Pompeo said in an interview with VOA on the 11th that lifting restrictions on US-Taiwan exchanges was not a hasty decision, “it was a considered action. These practices are an important part of the strategy to defend and maintain American freedom in order to face the challenges posed by the Communist Party of China.
According to the analysis of Zheng Liwen, the “legislator” of the Kuomintang, there are three deep-seated reasons behind the Trump administration’s imminent departure to play the “Taiwan card”: first, after the riots in the United States, Trump still does not give up, so he plays cross-strait cards to strengthen his image of “anti-China” and win the support of his supporters; second, Pompeo’s own selfishness, intending to spend four years in four years.
Later, he replaced Trump to run for president on behalf of the Republican Party; finally, Kraft’s selfishness wanted to come to Taiwan to sell things.
On the 11th, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs demanded that the United States stop manipulating on Taiwan-related issues and stop enhancing U.S.-Taiwan relations, stressing that any act that harms China’s core interests will be resolutely counterattacked by China.
The Taiwan Affairs Office of the Mainland State Council also said that the Democratic Progressive Party authorities’ “relying on the United States for independence” will only bring serious disaster to the Taiwanese people, and will take resolute and powerful measures to counter any Taiwan-US collusion.
The New York Times said that the Trump administration tried to consolidate the “anti-China” pattern at the end of its term, and there was a backlash within the U.S. State Department, believing that lifting restrictions on U.S.-Taiwan exchanges was a “decision made without proper scrutiny”. The article believes that the incoming Biden administration may overturn the decision.
According to the latest online poll on Yahoo.com, 37.5% of Taiwanese netizens believe that Biden will change the Trump administration’s relevant policies on Taiwan after taking office, 16.8% think that it will “will definitely change”, 23.2% think that it will not change, and 10.8% who think that it will not change.
Tsai Ing-wen’s dilemma
The response of the Democratic Progressive Party authorities is thought-provoking. Taiwan’s “Ministry of Foreign Affairs” said on the 12th that “we have heard the voices and expectations of all walks of life”. In the future, “we will steadily and pragmatically promote an all-round partnership with the United States on the basis of mutual trust, mutual benefit and mutual benefit”.
You Yinglong, chairman of the pro-green Taiwan Public Opinion Foundation, said that the recent response of the authorities to the “highlights” provided by the United States was very strange.
“Only one possibility is that Beijing issued a serious warning to Tsai Ing-wen, forcing Tsai Ing-wen to return to Ma Ying-jeou’s route. “cross-strait relations are more important than diplomatic relations”.
Wu Sihuai, a “legislator” of the Kuomintang, said that the Cai authorities deliberately revealed that Kraft’s visit to Taiwan was dominated by the United States, intending to cut, indicating that Taiwan was passive, so as to explain to Biden’s new government, “the embarrassing position of dilemma is exposed.”
Legislative Councilor Li Dewei also said that he believed that the Democratic Progressive Party was not all fools. It was impossible not to see the trick of Trump and Pompeo. It was simply the level of “retful revenge by departing employees”.
Zhang Yazhong, the general president of Sun Wen School, wrote that this kind of “giving” by the United States is definitely not “giving in good faith”, and the Democratic Progressive Party authorities will kill Taiwan.”
In the face of Craft’s visit to Taiwan, Cai authorities completely submissive, just like Lai Zhu (a beautiful pig containing clenbuterol) policy, “but it is difficult to hide the embarrasssment even if it is passive.”
The article questioned that last year, senior U.S. officials visited Taiwan one after another, and PLA military aircraft painted off the “midline of the Strait” to compress Taiwan’s defense space; what price does Taiwan’s security pay for Craft’s visit?
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