BARGAINING CHIPS:
Taiwan is seeking to arrange a meeting between TSMC founder Chang and Biden on the sidelines of the APEC summit, a Taiwanese official said
By Hsu Tzu-ling / Staff reporter in San Francisco
US President Joe Biden would not yield on issues about Taiwan during his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of an APEC summit in San Francisco on Wednesday, a Taiwanese academic said yesterday.
The two leaders “will definitely talk about Taiwan, but Biden will not give in on Taiwan issues,” National Taiwan University associate professor of political science Chen Shih-min (陳世民) said.
The Biden administration has repeatedly emphasized that it hopes to maintain communication channels between the heads of state and the militaries of the US and China to help Xi understand US thinking through direct, face-to-face dialogue, Chen said.
Photo: AP
The effort is aimed at preventing conflicts from escalating due to misunderstandings and incidents such as the collision between a US and a Chinese aircraft over the South China Sea in 2001, he said.
Leading up to the US presidential election next year, the Democrats and Republicans would take tougher stances on China, he said.
Biden, who is seeking re-election, is unlikely to show weakness toward China and is expected to maintain his position — opposing any unilateral action by either side of the Taiwan Strait to alter the “status quo,” he said.
Relations between the US and China are unlikely to achieve a breakthrough, he said.
The US might seem to be more proactive in facilitating a meeting with Xi, but Beijing needs Washington more at this time, economically and politically, Chen said.
One of the main reasons China is facing economic stagnation is a huge decline in foreign investment due to concerns over a US-China technology dispute and Beijing’s anti-espionage legislation, he said.
China hopes that the Xi-Biden meeting shows signs of easing tensions between the countries, which would help Beijing win back foreign investments, he said.
It is believed that anti-Xi factions criticize the Chinese leader for the deterioration of US-China relations, so bolstering ties with Washington through the meeting might help Xi’s political reputation domestically, he said.
Meanwhile, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) founder Morris Chang (張忠謀) is to attend the summit as President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) envoy for the sixth time, with some experts speculating that he might meet with Biden on the sidelines of the summit.
Chang spoke with US Vice President Kamala Harris on the sidelines of the APEC meeting in Bangkok last year.
TSMC is playing an important role in the chip supply chain, and has invested and set up a fab in the US, the host of this year’s summit.
Taiwan is striving to arrange for Chang to meet Biden, a Taiwanese official said.
Senior Taiwanese officials participating in the summit include Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中), who is in charge of economic and trade negotiations, National Development Council Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) and Minister of Finance Chuang Tsui-yun (莊翠雲).
The first agreement under the US-Taiwan 21st Century Trade Initiative has been signed and the second stage of negotiations, which focus on agriculture, labor and the environment, are under way, Deng said.
The second stage is unlikely to be completed by the end of the year as originally planned, Deng said, adding that he hoped to meet US Trade Representative Katherine Tai (戴琪) during the summit to check on the progress.
Members of APEC largely overlap with those of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), so Taiwan could take advantage of the summit to hold bilateral meetings with CPTPP member states to solicit their support for Taipei’s bid to join the bloc, a Taiwanese official said.
The recently completed negotiation of the Foreign Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement between Taiwan and Canada, which is to chair the CPTPP next year, might also help with the effort, the official said.
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