U.S. Navy admiral visits Taiwan as Trump administration solidifies ties ahead of exit

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Sources identified the official as Navy Rear Admiral Michael Studeman, the top military intelligence official at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said it welcomed the visit but would not give any details “since this itinerary has not been made public.”
Under President Donald Trump, Washington has intensified its engagement with Taipei, especially in the past 12 months. The Trump administration authorized billions of dollars in arms sales to the Autonomous Island, and in August, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar became the top U.S. official to visit Taiwan in decades.

The improved ties with Taiwan came as the United States increased pressure on China and sought to build an anti-Beijing alliance in the region, with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in particular taking a hard line. On the question.

In another move that is sure to anger Chinese leaders, the United States also welcomed the exiled Tibetan head of government to the White House over the weekend, although he did not meet with senior officials. responsible.
Beijing considers Taiwan to be part of its territory, even though it has never been controlled by the Communist Party and the island has been governed separately since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. Chinese President Xi has pledged to “reunite” Taiwan with the mainland China, by force if necessary, and recent months have seen increasingly aggressive measures from the Chinese military.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Zhao Lijian said on Friday that Beijing “strongly opposes all forms of official exchanges between the United States and Taiwan … so as not to undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and Sino-US cooperation in important areas. ”

Zhao was speaking ahead of a series of high-level meetings between US and Taiwanese officials as part of a new economic dialogue. Over the weekend, they signed a number of agreements on future cooperation in health, technology and security, although the meeting failed to reach a new trade deal.

“Our economic partnership with Taiwan – based on a shared commitment to free markets, the rule of law and transparency – is only getting stronger,” said US State Department spokesman Cale Brown. on Twitter.

As officials gathered, the US Navy sailed a warship through the Taiwan Strait, the first such transit since the election, which the Navy said “demonstrates the US commitment to favor of a free and open Indo-Pacific “.

While US ships regularly pass through the Strait, China views the strategic waterway between it and Taiwan as a priority area and often overshadows foreign ships as they pass.

Shaping Biden’s politics

Even as President Trump has strayed widely from public commitments in the wake of his electoral defeat to Biden, Pompeo has remained very active, traveling the world and keeping the pressure on China, which he described as the “Central threat” to the United States.
In a speech a week after the election, Pompeo said facing the “Chinese challenge” means “no more illegal claims in the South China Sea, no more coercion and co-optation of US companies, no more consulates being used as spy haunts, no more intellectual property theft, no more ignorance of fundamental human rights violations. And the (Communist) Party’s atrocities in Xinjiang, Tibet and elsewhere will not be tolerated. “
Write on Twitter On Saturday, Pompeo welcomed the economic meetings between the United States and Taiwan, saying the two governments “are strong partners in defending freedom, advancing economic ties and promoting our common democratic values.”
It remains to be seen how exactly a Biden presidency will engage with China – many analysts expect the new administration to maintain a hard line in some areas, while avoiding the kind of fiery rhetoric and postures that have characterized the Trump’s tenure.

During the Democratic primary in February, Biden called Chinese President Xi Jinping a “thug” and said Beijing must “play by the rules”. A Biden campaign ad in June accused Trump of being “played” by China.

The renewed focus on China is evident in the Democratic Party’s platform document, released in August 2020. In the last presidential campaign in 2016, the document only made seven references to China. This year’s version had more than 22.

“Democrats will be clear, strong and consistent in pushing back where we have deep economic, security and human rights concerns regarding the actions of the Chinese government,” the 2020 platform said.

Biden also has a history of supporting Taiwan, both as a senator and since leaving. In January, he tweeted his congratulations to Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen when she was re-elected.

That hasn’t stopped some Chinese hawks, as well as Chinese dissidents and independence supporters from Hong Kong and Taiwan, fearing that a Biden administration may take a softer line with Beijing. Recent steps taken by Pompeo and others could be intended to force the hand of the incoming administration, making it more difficult to overthrow certain policies once in power.

Lobsang Sangay, head of the Tibetan central administration, and Ngodup Tsering, CTA's senior representative in Washington, are seen inside the White House compound on November 21, 2020.
Another such milestone is Lobsang Sangay, head of India-based Tibetan Central Administration (CTA), to the White House on Saturday. No Tibetan government-in-exile leader has visited the building for 60 years, CTA said in a statement.

In July, Pompeo accused Beijing of violating human rights in Tibet, pointing to increased restrictions on religion, language and culture in the region, controlled by China since 1950. Washington under Trump called for a ” significant autonomy “for Tibet, just as Beijing denounced such statements as encouraging” splittism “.

In its statement, the CTA said the logic of its officials’ refusal to enter the White House and the US State Department “was that the US government does not recognize the Tibetan government in exile.”

“Today’s visit is tantamount to recognition of both CTA’s democratic system and its political leader,” the statement added. “(This) unprecedented meeting may set an optimistic tone for CTA’s involvement with US officials and will be more formalized in the years to come.”

CNN’s Ben Westcott and Isaac Yee contributed reporting.



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