Tsai-McCarthy meeting: Is Taiwan in danger of being loved to death?

China launched a military response to the much-anticipated meeting between Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen and US President Kevin McCarthy.

They met in California on Wednesday, a week before President Tsai Ing-wen had a leadership dinner in New York.

Ms. Tsai praised the “strong and unique cooperation”, and Mr. McCarthy said that arms sales to Taiwan should continue.

Beijing promised a “definitive response” and sent warships into the waters around the self-governing island.

Taiwan seems to be caught in a dangerous love triangle.
The timing of Ms. Tsai’s visit is no accident. Hostility towards China increased in the United States. This led to more public announcements about support for Taiwan, with Democrats and Republicans competing with each other.

This is a big reason why former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wanted to land in Taipei last summer despite China’s opposition. The autonomous island, which Beijing claims is part of its territory, is the biggest point of contention between the US and China.

Still, Mr. McCarthy, a Republican, has announced his intention to follow Ms. McCarthy. Example of Pelosi after she was elected to speak in the House in January. But President Tsai doesn’t think it’s a good idea, Professor Stanton said.

“I think Kevin McCarthy clearly wanted La Pelosi,” he said. “But Tsai Ing-wen said, ‘No thanks, we can have tea together in California’.”

Why Taiwan’s youth are learning to fight for Taiwan – but it also needs to tell China it won’t succeed. In destroying the relationship between Taipei’s elected government and its strongest allies in Washington.

“These international visits meet Taiwan’s people in need of international recognition,” Song said. “In the absence of international recognition, other measures of international support are important for Taiwanese.”

Meanwhile, China began its campaign by inviting President Tsai’s prime minister, Ma Ying-jeou, to visit the mainland.

Mr. Ma began traveling to five cities he had never seen before to honor his ancestors. He went to their tombs in central China. But travel is also political. In fact, this is the first time a former president of Taiwan has been invited to visit the People’s Republic of China since the founding of China in 1949.
“While Beijing avoids the rise of Taiwanese nationalism during the [2024] presidential campaign … it is trying to raise Taiwan’s pulse to win more hearts and minds,” Song said. said.

He added that Mr. Ma’s visit provided the necessary “political cover” for this.
When he arrived in Nanjing last week, Ma said of the government: “People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are Chinese. They are descendants of Yan and Huang.”

Professor Stanton said, “Beijing treats Ma Ying-jeou very well because she represents surrender.” “He said, ‘We are all Chinese.’ They agreed with the Chinese on this, but the Taiwanese did not.”
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The risk in Mr. Ma’s opinion, according to the research, is that more than 60 percent of people in Taiwan identify themselves as Taiwanese rather than Chinese. He said that the KMT (KMT) could avoid such a war.
At the national political level, Taiwan is launching a presidential campaign. The KMT’s argument is that we can make peace with China. “

But the big story in the room is the deteriorating relationship between Taiwan’s two rights holders, Washington and Beijing. Bonnie Glaser, director of the Asia program of the German Marshall Fund in the United States, said today that relations have been worse than ever since the United States and China recognized each other in 1979. Get a call from President Biden or the Pentagon. Congress has reported on China’s threats.”

For decades, Washington has maintained an unstable position by accepting if not supporting Beijing’s position that there is only one Chinese government on the mainland.
It has maintained good relations with the Taiwanese government, not the Taiwanese government, since 1979. But he also became a good friend of Taipei, pledging to help the island defend itself.

But the worrying thing is that China believes the US has decided to change the conditions that have helped keep peace in the Taiwan Strait for over 40 years.
President Biden told Xi Jinping that he did not use Taiwan as a weapon, nor did he support Taiwan’s secession from China. said.

However, he added that such assurances would not be given after a state-of-the-art meeting or a meeting with the Taiwanese leader.
So when Ma Yun visits China and Tsai Ing-wen has tea in California, Taiwan still needs Xi Jinping to answer the phone.