Taiwan’s President Meets Senior U.S. Lawmakers in California
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen is scheduled to meet with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and a bipartisan group of Congress members in the Los Angeles area today; while the White House has called the visit private and unofficial, it will be the highest-level meeting with a Taiwanese president on U.S. soil since the United States switched diplomatic recognition from Taiwan to China in 1979 (Reuters)
Tsai’s California visit, along with her earlier stop in New York last week, has drawn threats of unspecified retaliation from China, which claims independently governed Taiwan as part of its territory and has vowed to unify the island with the mainland (CNN)
In New York, Tsai met with another group of bipartisan lawmakers who are preparing a bill that would introduce economic sanctions against China if it invaded Taiwan, the Wall Street Journal reported (WSJ)
Taiwan Pledges Aid to Guatemala
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen completed a three-day trip to Guatemala, where she pledged $4 million to modernize rural areas (Reuters)
Guatemala is one of Taiwan’s few remaining diplomatic allies; its neighbor Honduras chose to switch allegiance from Taiwan to China last week (AP)
Nine Chinese Aircraft Cross Taiwan Strait’s Median Line
Taiwan’s defense ministry said nine Chinese aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait during combat readiness exercises; last week, Beijing threatened retaliation if President Tsai Ingwen met with U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during her visit to the United States (Reuters)
Taiwanese Leader Begins Closely Watched Trip to U.S., Central America
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen begins a ten-day trip today that seeks to shore up Taiwan’s official diplomatic ties with Belize and Guatemala and its unofficial ties with the United States; U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy recently walked back a pledge to visit Taiwan over concerns about escalating tensions with China, but he and Tsai reportedly plan to meetin Los Angeles at the end of her current trip (FT)
The Chinese government’s Taiwan policy body said today that such a meeting would “sabotage peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait” and lead China to “resolutely hit back” (NBC)
Tsai’s travels come as former Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou visits mainland China for a trip that is seen as part of efforts by the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party to reduce tensions with China; the KMT will face Tsai’s Democratic Progressive Party in elections next year (Reuters)
Former Taiwanese President Begins Rare Trip to China
Ma Ying-jeou’s visit to mainland China is the first by a former Taiwanese leader since the Chinese Civil War ended in 1949; he will oversee an exchange student exercise (CNN)
Meanwhile, Taiwan broke diplomatic ties with Honduras, one of its last official partners, after the country formally established relations with China yesterday (WaPo)
President Tsai Ing-wen to Visit United States
Taiwan has confirmed that President Tsai Ing-wen is scheduled to visit the United States on her way to and from Central America, which led to condemnation from China’s foreign ministry; the Biden administration responded to China’s condemnation, stating Tsai’s stopovers fall in line with recent precedent and is consistent with U.S. policy (AP)
Taiwan Showcases New Drones
In Taiwan, new domestically-made military drones were showcased for use as an “asymmetric warfare” tool; President Tsai Ing-wen has promoted the concept of “asymmetric warfare” as a strategy to make Taiwan’s forces agile and difficult to attack (Reuters)
Beijing Warns of U.S. ‘Containment’ Efforts, Announces Tech, Finance Overhauls
During China’s rubber-stamp legislative session, President Xi Jinping and Foreign Minister Qin Gang said that Washington is rallying the West against Beijing in a mission of “containment” (Bloomberg)
To better compete with the West, Chinese officials announced plans to overhaul supervision of the country’s financial sector, reorganize the science and technology ministry, and create a department for data oversight and protection (FT)
Qin rejected the idea that the U.S.-China relationship can avoid conflict given its current trajectory; seeking to prevent that outcome, Washington has stressed that it aims to establish “guardrails” on its competition with China (BBC)
Separately, U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has reportedly agreed to meet with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen in California next month to discuss shared concerns about China (FT)
U.S. Approves $619 Million Arms Sale to Taiwan
The sale approved by the U.S. State Department includes missiles for Taiwan’s fleet of F-16 fighter jets; the approval came as Taiwan reported two days of increased incursions by Chinese aircraft (Reuters)
U.S. House Hearing Showcases Bipartisan Commitment to Countering China
A new U.S. House of Representatives committee on China held its inaugural hearing last night, with committee Chairman Mike Gallagher (R-WI) describing U.S.-China competition as “an existential struggle;” the top Democrat on the committee, Illinois Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, said Democrats and Republicans had both underestimated the ruling Chinese Communist Party in recent decades (Reuters)
Earlier in the day, the House Financial Services Committee greenlit multiple China-related sanctions bills, moving them toward a likely floor vote (Bloomberg)
The committee was created in January after a 365-65 congressional vote; it is intended to rally support for selectively decoupling the U.S. and Chinese economies and draw attention to Beijing’s human rights abuses (AP)
WSJ: U.S. to More Than Quadruple Troops Deployed to Taiwan
The United States plans to deploy between one hundred and two hundred troops to Taiwan to train the island’s military, up from thirty troops a year ago, unnamed U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ)
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Meets With Senior U.S. Officials in Washington
Taiwan’s foreign minister and its National Security Council chief met with the U.S. deputy secretary of state and other senior officials for around seven hours on Tuesday (CNA)
A State Department spokesperson declined to comment on the meeting but said the United States and Taiwan maintain a “robust, unofficial relationship” (VOA)
Meanwhile, two groups comprising members of the U.S. House of Representatives paid official visits to Taiwan to discuss strengthening ties; House lawmakers called on the U.S. government to expedite weapons deliveries to Taiwan (NYT)
FT: Senior Pentagon Official Visits Taiwan
The U.S. Defense Department’s top China official, Michael Chase, is in Taiwan, four people told the Financial Times;he is the most senior U.S. defense official to travel to Taiwan in four years (FT)
The Pentagon did not comment on the trip (Reuters)
China Sanctions U.S. Firms Over Arms Sales
China’s commerce ministry today announced sanctions on U.S. companies Raytheon and Lockheed Martin over their participation in arms sales to Taiwan (Bloomberg)
President of Paraguay Visits Taiwan
Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez began a visit to Taiwan that is intended to shore up ties ahead of Paraguay’s April elections; opposition candidate Efraín Alegre has vowed to cut off Paraguay’s diplomatic relations with Taiwan (CNA)
Senior Leader of Kuomintang to Visit China
Andrew Hsia of the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan’s main opposition party, will visit China to meet Song Tao, the newly appointed head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office; the dialogue will include concerns about the security of the Taiwan Strait and regional peace and stability, the KMT said (Reuters)
China Denounces Phone Call Between Taiwan and Czech President-elect
Despite a lack of formal diplomatic relations between Taipei and Prague, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen spoke with Czech President-elect Petr Pavel and discussed shared values of freedom, democracy, and human rights (Reuters)
The Chinese Foreign Ministry tried to dissuade the incoming Czech government from taking the phone call but was rebuffed, and China consequently condemned the interaction (Reuters;Reuters)
Meanwhile, China’s Foreign Ministry warned against U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s proposed visit to Taiwan (Bloomberg)
FT: Washington Pulls Licenses to Export to Huawei
The Joe Biden administration told some U.S. tech companies it will stop granting licenses to export to Chinese tech firm Huawei and is reportedly weighing an official ban, the Financial Times reported; the company has stoked fears of Chinese espionage in Washington (FT)
President Tsai Announces Cabinet Reshuffle
President Tsai Ing-wen appointed former Vice President Chen Chien-jen as prime minister and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tsai Ming-yen as intelligence chief in a cabinet shake-up that follows a poor performance by President Tsai’s party in elections last year (Nikkei)
Taiwan’s President Characterizes War With China as a Nonstarter
In a letter to Pope Francis, President Tsai Ing-wen said war with China is “not an option” (AP)
The letter explained Beijing must respect the “sovereignty, democracy, and freedom” of the Taiwanese people to have “constructive interaction” (VOA)
Taiwan Lengthens Men’s Mandatory Military Service
Amid heightened tensions with China, Taiwan will increase the length of mandatory service from four months to one year beginning in 2024; it will also raise the pay for conscripts (Nikkei)
Authorities Investigating TikTok
Authorities opened a probe into the video-sharing app TikTok over allegations that it is illegally operating in Taiwan; social media companies based in mainland China are banned from operating on the island (Nikkei)
Guatemala Plans Summit of Taiwan’s Diplomatic Allies
Guatemala aims to hold a summit of “Taiwan-friendly” countries in March, the Guatemalan ambassador in Taipei said; Guatemala is one of only fourteen countries to have official diplomatic ties with Taiwan (Reuters)
Pacifist Japan Seeks Major Military Buildup
In the first revision of its national defense strategy since 2013, Japan plans to double defense spending by 2027 and lifts a self-imposed restriction on its ability to strike other nations with missiles; the shift is part of a major remilitarization that reverses the pacifist orientation Japan has held in the decades since World War II (NPR)
The strategy cites heightened threats from China and North Korea and says that Japan, a U.S. ally, should be more independent in its self-defense; the plan to boost military spending foresees purchases of U.S.-made missiles that are capable of reaching North Korea and parts of China (Nikkei)
Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio said the new counterstrike capabilities would be “essential to deter an attack” (FT)
China Calls Talks With U.S. ‘Constructive’
U.S. and Chinese envoys held two days of talks in the Chinese city of Langfang in preparation for U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to China early next year; the Chinese foreign ministry called the talks, which included discussions of Taiwan’s status, “in-depth and constructive” (SCMP)