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Biden Expected to Uphold Staunch US-Taiwan Ties But Not Like Trump

Ralph Jennings

   TAIPEI, TAIWAN - Taiwanese officials and analysts expect U.S.
   President-elect Joe Biden to sustain most of the heightened political
   support that President Donald Trump's administration has offered the
   Asian island, but with less taunting of Taiwan's increasingly powerful
   rival China.

   Biden, the projected winner of America's Nov. 3 presidential election,
   wants a stronger U.S. relationship with Taiwan, while leaders in Taipei
   hope for the same as a bulwark against military threats from Beijing.
   But analysts expect fewer arms sales and nearby naval voyages and less
   anti-China language from a Biden administration.

   "I think the basic stance will be about the same and the United States
   won't back down in this regard," said Huang Kwei-bo, vice dean of the
   international affairs college at National Chengchi University in
   Taipei, comparing Biden to Trump. But when it comes to China, Huang
   said, "the two sides for now will experience fewer verbal
   confrontations."

   China considers self-ruled Taiwan part of its territory. It objects to
   Washington's strong support for the island's government, a policy that
   has contributed to a decline in Sino-U.S. relations.

   Biden is projected to become U.S. president on Jan. 20, 2021 based on
   what is deemed to be an insurmountable lead in the ongoing vote
   counting from the Nov. 3 election. The results remain subject to court
   challenges and recounts, and will not be official until certified by
   the individual states, which must happen no later than Dec. 8.

   Biden's comments on Taiwan shortly before the election suggest a
   continuation of a decades-old U.S. policy that casts Taiwan as one in a
   chain of Asian allies that Washington can turn to for help in
   countering Chinese economic and diplomatic expansion.

   "We're a Pacific power, and we'll stand with friends and allies to
   advance our shared prosperity, security, and values in the Asia-Pacific
   region," the president-elect wrote in a piece for the Chinese-language
   World Journal newspaper. "That includes deepening our ties with
   Taiwan."

   Biden tweeted in January that "the United States should continue
   strengthening our ties with Taiwan and other like-minded democracies."

   Taiwan waxed optimistic over the weekend.

   "President Tsai [Ing-wen] and President Biden will definitely increase
   all means of improving Taiwan-U.S. relations," Taiwan Premier Su
   Tseng-chang said in a social media statement Sunday. "We hope for a big
   leap ahead in Taiwan-U.S. relations."

   Trump's government, enmeshed in a series of consular, trade and
   technology disputes with China, has stepped up its high-level visits
   and arms sales to Taiwan.

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