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Lawrence Chung

Taiwan’s government is casting a wary eye on the two-day summit between US President Donald Trump and his mainland counterpart Xi Jinping on Thursday and Friday fearing the talks may harm the island’s interests.
Taipei fears Trump could use the island as a bargaining chip with Xi to force concessions on other issues such as trade, weakening Taiwan’s long-standing alliance with the US.
The US president angered Beijing by suggesting that he would not be bound by decades of protocol in recognising the one-China principle, which states that Taiwan is part of China. He has since rowed back on those statements, assuring Beijing that the US would adhere to the principle.
Analysts have suggested that Trump’s sometimes strong rhetoric with the mainland is part of his negotiating tactics with Beijing and that Taiwan could be a key bargaining chip.
Other concerns in Taiwan include whether the Trump administration will continue to back the island through trade and arms sales, given the unpredictability of the US president.
Xi and Trump tipped to play down Taiwan at Florida summit
President Tsai Ing-wen’s government has formed a committee to follow the summit.
Taiwan foreign ministry spokeswoman Eleanor Wang said a task force has been set up to closely monitor the talks.
Katherine Chang, head of the policy planning body the Mainland Affairs Council, said she hoped the United States would abide by the Taiwan Relations Act, enacted by Washington shortly after it switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979, to protect Taiwan’s interests in the absence of formal ties.
“The [council] is closely watching the development of US-China relations and has requested that the US side abide by the Taiwan Relations Act in not using Taiwan as a bargaining chip or a chess pawn in exchange for interests with Beijing,” she said.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou said in a speech in Taipei that Taiwan was most concerned about whether the summit would lead to a “fourth communique” that would further consolidate US-China ties at the expense of the island’s interests.
Taiwan’s Foreign Minister David Lee said, however, that the Tsai government has told Washington through informal communication channels that it would be unwise to sign such a document with the mainland.
Mainland China and the US signed three communiques between 1972 and 1982 to establish formal ties, with Washington pledging to support the one-China policy. The third communique, signed in 1982, greatly limits US arms sales to the island.
US, Japan risk China’s ire courting Taiwan ahead of Trump-Xi summit
Analysts, however, see little chance of a fourth communique coming from the summit and they believe the two leaders are unlikely to reach any agreements harmful to the island because their discussions will centre on other more pressing issues.
“The one-China policy should remain unchanged, but there should be no talks on a new communique, given how little time the pair have to actually discuss at length a variety of agendas, including the more controversial trade issues and North Korea nuclear weapons,” said Yen Chen-shen, a research fellow at the Institute of International Relations at National Chengchi University.
Lee Chih-horng, a research fellow at Singapore’s Longus Institute for Development and Strategy, said it was clear Trump would use Taiwan as a bargaining chip in his talks with Xi, but he agreed North Korea and trade would be main focus of the summit.
“For Trump, he has an even better bargaining chip to make China accept his deal: that the US will take unilateral action to eliminate the nuclear threat from North Korea if Beijing fails to increase pressure on North Korea,” Lee said.
North Korea launches ballistic missile into sea ahead of Xi-Trump summit
He added it was unlikely Beijing would tolerate lone US action, given that it would not only make the mainland lose face, but could also massively increase the threat of war on its border with North Korea.
Edward Chen, professor of political science at Chinese Culture University, said the Trump-Xi meeting was more symbolic than practical in nature as it signalled a new chapter for US-China relations rather than discussing issues at length.
“The two sides will merely briefly touch on sensitive issues related to the world, bilateral relations and trade since they can discuss these issues at length in the next four years or so,” said Chen.


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Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen pictured in December speaking by phone with Donald Trump to congratulate him on his election victory. The call infuriated Beijing which discourages all contact by foreign governments with the leader’s of Taiwan, which it considers a breakaway Chinese province. Photo: EPA

epa05846900 (FILE) - Former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou (C) arrives to a trial for questioning at the District court in Taipei, Taiwan, 10 January 2017 (reissued 14 March 2017). The Taipei Prosecutor's Office indicted Ma on 14 March 2017, for the alleged leaking of judicial secrets during his time in office and for violating protections of personal information. Ma, 66, insisted on his innocence and expected a fair trial, his spokeswoman Hsu Chiao-hsin said. The opposition party KMT (Kuomintang) accused the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) of political persecution of Ma, who stepped down in May 2016 after having served two four-year terms, media reported. EPA/RITCHIE B. TONGO