By Erik Gartzke
For the first time in 40 years, a U.S. cabinet official has visited China. No, not that China, the other “China”—Taiwan. Two Chinas? Confusing, right? This is the problem.
For decades, the United States has maintained an ambiguous relationship concerning the defense of Taiwan. The intentional ambiguity of this bargain has outlived its usefulness, however, becoming a toxic threat to stability in the Eastern Pacific.
This was not always the case. Taiwan was the central sticking point in the negotiations that eventually re-established diplomatic relations between Beijing and Washington. Mao Zedong, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, insisted that Taiwan was a province of China, legally subject to mainland rule, and PRC authority. Washington, for its part, backed the Nationalist Kuomintang regime that retreated to Taiwan in 1949.
This piece was originally published in Town Hall on August 15, 2020. Read more HERE.