Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen is set to make multiple stops in America including New York and Los Angeles. It is routine for Taiwanese leaders to pass through the United States of America to meet with their diplomatic allies. Taiwan has allies in Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.
China’s Foreign Ministry condemned the Taiwanese leader’s visit to the West. However, Taipei did not confirm any official meeting agenda set up with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
The United States of America as such has no diplomatic relations with Taiwan but it remains a prominent player in the supply of arms proving to be a reason for China to be concerned. The United States put out a statement asking China not to overread Taiwan’s visit to the West and increase aggressive action in the Taiwan Strut.
The two nations, China and Taiwan, have been in a state of the political division since the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, which resulted in the Republic Of China’s government fleeing to Taiwan. The Republic of China, which was established on the mainland, considers Taiwan a renegade province and has vowed to reunify it with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Taiwan, on the other hand, considers itself a sovereign state and has its own government, military, and economy. The ongoing political tensions between China and Taiwan have had significant implications for the region and the world, affecting trade, security, and diplomacy.
Keeping the consequences in mind, the United States has made it clear that the Taiwanese transit visits to the United States have been routine over the past few years and there is no diplomatic agenda behind them.
Ms. Tsai has spoken with members of Congress and members of the Taiwanese diaspora on recent visits, and she has been greeted by the chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan, a nonprofit organization run by the U.S. government that promotes unofficial relations with Taiwan.
Between 2016 and 2019, Ms. Tsai passed through the US six times before the coronavirus outbreak slowed down foreign travel. Following those trips, China attacked both Taiwan and China in its rhetoric.
Officials in the United States are growing more concerned about China’s long-stated intentions to unite Taiwan with the mainland and the potential for conflict over Taiwan. China asserts that the self-governing island democracy is part of its territory. The 1979 Taiwan Relations Act, which controlled U.S. ties with the island, declares it American policy to guarantee Taiwan has the means to defend itself and to prevent any unilateral change of status by Beijing. But, the U.S. is not required to intervene militarily if China invades.
Relations between China and the US have also added difficulties to the situation. Last month, Biden gave the order to shoot down a Chinese surveillance balloon that had flown over the American continent. And the Biden administration has claimed recently that U.S. intelligence assessments indicate that China is considering supplying Russia with weapons for its continuing conflict in Ukraine, although there is no proof to support this claim.
In addition to that, the USA also condemned Xi Jinping’s visit to Moscow after the International Criminal Court filed charges against Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Taiwanese administration stated earlier this month that Ms. Tsai planned to stop in New York and Southern California while on a future foreign tour, although she has not yet made any announcements regarding the specific dates of her trip.
