The Democratic Party platform adopted at last week’s nominating convention dropped any reference to the US policy of recognizing one China in reference to unofficial US allies Taiwan.
The new platform released on Thursday for President-elect Joseph R. Biden states that Democrats are committed to the 1979 Taiwan Relations Relations, which calls on the US to defend Taiwan against the attack on the mainland.
The platform then states that Democrats “will continue to support a peaceful resolution of cross-border issues in line with the wishes and best interests of the people of Taiwan.”
In contrast, the 2016 platform explicitly endorsed the “One China” policy that emerged in the 1970s, when the US fell formal diplomatic recognition of Taiwan and moved recognition to Beijing. The 2016 document said Democrats “are committed to a ‘One China’ policy.”
China’s Foreign Ministry criticized the platform’s change.
Asked about the change, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said the Taiwan issue “is the most important and sensitive issue between China and the US”.
“The One China principle is the political foundation of relations between China and the US and a common consensus of the international community,” he said. “We urge interested parties to adhere to the One China principle and the three China-US common communiqus, and to deal with Taiwan-related issues carefully and properly.”
The mild criticism of the Chinese government’s Democrats, some analysts say, reflects Beijing’s interest in seeing Mr Biden defeat President Trump in the November elections.
Vice President Mike Pence has accused China of invading US elections and said in a recent speech that Beijing “wants another president”.
Chinese state media also warned that the omission of the Democratic platform would weaken US-China ties.
“The change of tone is likely to further strain relations between China and the United States,” the Chinese Communist Party’s Global Times outlet said.
A spokesman for the Democratic National Committee did not respond to a request for comment on the platform change.
Taiwan is an independent island state, known as the Republic of China, located about 100 miles off the coast of China. It was a refuge for Chinese nationalist troops fleeing the mainland during the 1949 Civil War, which brought the Communist regime to power.
The Trump administration has sharpened ties with Taiwan, agreed to a multibillion-dollar F-16 aircraft treaty, turned warships across the Taiwan Strait as a challenge to Beijing and earlier this month sent Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex M. Azar II to the island.
In yet another sign of warming relations that could likely anger Beijing, the U.S. envoy arrived in Taiwan at President Tsai Ing-wen at a military memorial service Sunday.
The director of the American Institute in Taiwan, William Brent Christensen and Ms Tsai, reportedly reported the annual event not for soldiers killed by Chinese bombings in 1958 on Kinmen, a Taiwanese-ruled island off the coast of the mainland.
The Democratic platform also takes on a smarter tone about China than in the past, but also calls for more modern policies than Mr. Trump has followed. It calls China’s trade practices unfair and criticizes its currency manipulation and technological theft.
“The Democrats’ approach to China will be guided by the national interests of America and the interests of our allies, and draw on the sources of American strength – the openness of our society, the dynamism of our economy, and the strength of our alliances. to shape and uphold international standards that reflect our values, ”the document said.
‘Undermining those strengths will not make us’ worried about China. “It would be a gift to the Chinese Communist Party,” the platform added. The part promised to be “clear, strong and consistent” in pushing China over differences over economic, security and human rights.
Define the threat
Democrats argued that the threat from China is “not primarily” military, but is willing to deter and respond to aggression.
“We will underline our global commitment to freedom of navigation and resist the intimidation of the Chinese army in the South China Sea,” the document said.
China has been building disputed islands in the sea since 2012 and in 2018 began deploying missiles and electronic warfare systems – in what US officials say is a violation of a pledge made by President Xi Jinping not to militarize the islands.
The platform also states that a Democratic administration would support activists in Hong Kong with sanctions. It also condemned China’s placement of more than 1 million ethnic Uighurs and other minorities in ‘concentration camps.’
“Democrats will pursue this strategy without resisting self-defending, one-sided tariff wars or falling into the trap of a new Cold War,” the platform said. “Those mistakes would only serve to exaggerate China’s weight, militarize our policies and hurt American workers.”
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended the U.S. hardline policy regarding Taipei earlier this month.
Asked in an interview with One America News about Chinese threats against Taiwan, Mr. Pompeo said, “We intend to maintain our commitments and commitments regarding the historical understanding between the United States and China regarding Taiwan.”
The high-profile visit to Taiwan by Mr Azar, a cabinet secretary, was “fully in line with those commitments, and we have told both the Chinese and the Taiwanese that we will continue to adhere to that set of concepts.”
During his visit to the island, Mr Azar criticized Beijing for abusing the outbreak of coronavirus that is spreading the current pandemic. Taiwan has been widely praised for its public health campaign to spread the virus that is from the mainland.
“China could – and should have – made more information public, more transparent and more cooperative on COVID-19,” he said. ‘They would have revealed the rapid human-to-human transmission of the disease they knew about. They would have revealed the asymptomatic carriage and transmission of the disease. ”
