Joe Biden's record on China and Taiwan – The Diplomat

In the last first presidential debate of the Democratic Party, On February 25, Former Vice President Joe Biden Showed His Assertion About Xi Jinping, Head Of State Of The People's Republic Of China (PRC). Biden lambasted Xi as a thug who has a million Uighurs in reconstruction camps, which means concentration camps. He also criticized the way Xis handled the protests in Hong Kong, saying, "He's a guy who has no democratic bones, with a little D , in the body.

Biden has also shown tenacity towards China during his tenure as vice president. When China set up a no-fly zone, Biden told Xi, as he said, that we will fly through it. We flew B-1 bombers there. We have to be clear. They must respect the Period rules! Period! Period!

With regard to China recently, one of Bidens' slogans may well be clear. In another debate, Biden made it clear that the United States should not tolerate human rights violations from China and should move 60% of its maritime power to the Western Pacific to rebuild our alliances and protect other people. Given that Senator Bernie Sanders recently stated that he would not stay and would not allow invasions to take place in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, Bidens calls for the continued pivot to the pivot. Asia of the Obama era signifies a convergence of Asian politics within the Democratic Party. facing the imminent threat that China poses to the international order.

In addition to the eight years he has spent as vice-president, Biden has extensive foreign policy experience through his leadership on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Compared to its Democratic competitors, Biden has much more experience in American foreign policy, including in China and Taiwan.

Entering the Senate in 1973, Biden has witnessed and sometimes participated in many turning points in American-Chinese and American-Taiwanese relations. After the end of official diplomatic relations between the United States and Taiwan in 1979, Biden was one of 90 senators voting in favor of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), a law which stipulates the engagement of states – United for the safety of Taiwans and the continuation of unofficial relations between the United States and the United States. Links with Taiwan. The TRA has also become part of Bidens' foreign policy legacy, which he often emphasizes in his speeches, as well as other laws aimed at developing US-Taiwan relations.

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However, Bidens' critical views on China today may surprise many, as he sincerely believed in the doctrine of engagement with China. This was reflected in his support for the granting of China's most favored nation trading status. On a trip to Taiwan in 2001, Biden explained the rationale for this doctrine: the more they (i.e. China) have to lose, the more likely they are to start to adapt to international standards. As recently as last May, Biden made fun of President Donald Trump against the trade war with China by minimizing the threat. China will eat our lunch? Come on, man … they're not bad guys. But guess what: they don't compete with us, Biden said.

A fundamental element of Bidens 'engagement policy is the United States' strategic ambiguity over cross-strait affairs. In a 2001 editorial on The Washington Post titled Not so skilled in Taiwan, Biden questioned the then imposed obligation on the then president, George W. Bush, to defend Taiwan as a policy of ambiguous strategic ambiguity. Strategic ambiguity, as Biden defines it in the article, refers to a policy in which we reserve the right to use force to defend Taiwan but remain silent on the circumstances in which we may or may not intervene in a war across the Taiwan Strait. The implication in this strategic mindset is that the United States should not automatically cede decision-making power to Taiwan, which would risk being drawn into war if Taiwan acted provocatively. towards China, regardless of the legitimacy of the action.

Over the years, Biden has been consistent in his strong preference for the cross-strait status quo, particularly with regard to the normalization of Taiwan's status and US-Taiwan relations. When former Taiwans president Lee Teng-hui argued that cross-strait affairs were a form of special state-to-state relations in 1999, Biden said the declaration had shaken Beijing and injected some uncertainty about the future of Taiwan in the cross-strait dynamic. Explaining the nature of America's one-China policy, Biden noted that the two elements of the equation provide military means, in terms of material, to prevent forced unification and prevent Taiwan from declaring its independence. In one 2001 warning to Taiwan, Biden made it clear: we are not ready to go to war for your unilateral declaration of independence.

When reviewing the Taiwan Security Improvement Law (TSEA) in 1999, which called for military cooperation and arms sales between the United States and Taiwan, Biden strongly opposed the legislation. Arguing that TSEA's goals could be achieved with TRA, Biden said that the introduction of TSEA was inappropriate given the rapprochement in US-China relations. Taiwans 'security, as Biden has seen, is based on its democracy, its growing interactions with China, and the United States' continued commitment to a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan issue.

Far from being a sniper in foreign policy circles, Biden represents generations of American decision-makers who believed in China's engagement policy and strategic ambiguity on the issue of Taiwan. Regarding the TSEA, former Senator John Kerry also argued that the law was at least provocative and potentially dangerous. Even the former representative of the House of Commons, Tom Lantos, who had contributed to President Lees' unprecedented visit to the United States, criticized the TSEA, claiming that in public diplomacy, ambivalence and ambiguity have an old and distinguished place.

Such an understanding seems to have been passed on to younger politicians like former President Barack Obama. At his end-of-year press conference in 2016, Obama noted that for China, the issue of Taiwan is as important as anything on their record. He also warned that you should have thought about the consequences if the understanding of the cross-strait status quo and no Taiwan declaration of independence were upset.

Bidens' past positions on the status and future of Taiwans may not be encouraging for many Taiwanese. Nevertheless, Biden has shown commitment to TRA throughout his career with the legislation he has introduced or co-sponsored. For example, Biden supported the transfer of weapon systems, including Kiddclass guided missile destroyers and Osprey– coastal minesweeper ships in Taiwan. Both platforms were essential to the maritime defense of Taiwans. In 2005, the Chinese National People's Congress passed an anti-secession law that provides a legal framework for the possible use of force against Taiwan. In response, Biden co-sponsored a resolution urging the United States government to express its grave concern and encourage dialogue between China and Taiwan on an equal footing and without preconditions.

All of these gestures of support were presumed by Bidens' early understanding of the importance of Taiwans for American strategic interests. In a 1979 TRA hearing, Biden, then a 36-year-old senator, noted that it seems to me that our security interests … were not just the physical assets of Taiwan were in our security interest… But that if Taiwan were physically overtaken by mainland China, the psychological effect of this on our security interests, as opposed to Taiwan’s strategic value, is at stake .

Earlier this year, when President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan was re-elected, Biden was the first Democratic presidential candidate to congratulate President Tsai and urge the strengthening of US-Taiwan relations. Since then, Tsai has reiterated its standstill policy on cross-strait relations even as China has shown its hostility, when an aircraft of the People's Liberation Army flying near Taiwan has locked its radar on a Taiwanese fighter plane. As the presidential leader with the longest return in foreign policy in decades, Biden can certainly make it clear that he would be both a potential and a willing commander in a new era of American competition. particularly by showing its continued commitment to Taiwan.

Kuang-shun Yang is co-founder of US-Taiwan Watch.