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Taiwan’s Vice President William Lai (top left) and the heads of the island’s five branches of government yesterday placed the Taiwanese flag on the coffin of former President Lee Teng-hui. PHOTO: FACEBOOK / TSAI ING-WEN via The Straits Times / Asia News Network
TAIPEI – For the second day, Taiwan’s air force scrambled planes after several Chinese fighters and bombers crossed the sensitive mid-line of the Taiwan Strait, as a senior American diplomat concluded a whirlwind visit to the island that included a dinner with the president. Tsai Ing-wen. .
US Under Secretary for Economic Affairs Keith Krach left Taiwan yesterday after attending a memorial service for the late former President Lee Teng-hui.
The funeral was held in a chapel of a Christian university in New Taipei City, and among those in attendance were President Tsai and former Vice President Lien Chan. Krach kept a low profile on the monument, in keeping with the nature of his visit to Taiwan, which had been a secret until the last minute.
Even though the trip was relatively low-key compared to last month’s visit by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, Krach’s presence still prompted Beijing to first send 18 military aircraft to the Taiwan Straits on Friday and 19 planes yesterday.
Beijing also announced a military exercise near the Taiwan Strait.
On Thursday, China’s Foreign Ministry lashed out at Krach’s visit, accusing the United States of gravely violating the one-China principle and undermining ties between the United States and China. He also promised to retaliate.
His spokesman Wang Wenbin on Friday called the military exercise a “justifiable and necessary action taken in response to the current situation across the Taiwan Strait and to safeguard China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.” A spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense made similar comments.
In a strident editorial yesterday, the Chinese state-backed tabloid Global Times said that the most recent exercise and previous drills have given the People’s Liberation Army enough experience to attack Taiwan, calling them “trials to take control of Taiwan “.
What is missing now is a political reason for China to start a real war to “crush Taiwan’s independence forces,” the editorial also said, calling on both the United States and Taiwan not to view the military exercise as a mere hoax. .
The Taiwanese government has been fairly quiet about Krach’s visit, saying little more than words of welcome and encouragement to foster a stronger relationship with the United States.
“Although it is a symbolic victory for Taiwan to have such a high-level politician visit, Tsai does not want to aggravate the People’s Republic of China more than necessary: keeping his time in Taiwan short and without much fanfare allows Taiwan to enjoy victory without bragging too much in the face of the People’s Republic of China, ”said Mr. Lev Nachman, a Fulbright research fellow and Ph.D. candidate who focuses on Taiwanese politics at the University of California, Irvine. He was using the acronym for the People’s Republic of China, the official name for China.
Before Krach’s arrival, local media reported that the visit would likely be linked to an “economic and commercial dialogue” that the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy, said would take place before the end of the year.
However, it seems that Krach’s main agenda was just attending Lee’s funeral.
Mr. Nachman said this seems to indicate that trade talks may progress slower than initially thought, but sending Mr. Krach to Taiwan “shows a high level of commitment from the United States that they are serious about it. promoting relations with Taiwan, even if they don’t necessarily happen overnight. “
A former researcher for a government-affiliated think tank said the fact that both the host and the visitor are silent about the visit is an indicator of how the two parties may not have agreed how to work together.
“Both sides want to strengthen collaboration, but the United States wants to rebuild supply chains and strengthen the semiconductor industry. This goes against Taiwan’s wishes to keep advanced technology on the island, ”said the former researcher who wished to remain anonymous.
He also highlighted the importance of the presence of Morris Chang, former CEO of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), at a banquet that Ms. Tsai hosted for Krach on Friday.
TSMC is the world’s largest semiconductor foundry and Chang was the only leading technology figure present at the event.
“TSMC is extremely important to the United States in its hopes of growing its own semiconductor industry and boosting technology-based national security,” said the former researcher.
“At this level, TSMC is an important chip for Taiwan to attract the United States, but how the chip should be used would be a challenge for the current administration.”
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