Wrong signal, wrong place, wrong time: China Daily editorial
After barking for weeks since the eruption of Russia-Ukraine tensions, Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen has finally received her long-awaited treats from across the Pacific.
The Joe Biden administration sent a high-level delegation of former officials on Asia affairs and security from both parties, led by Michael Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to the island on Tuesday to reaffirm to the Tsai administration the US' "rock solid" commitment to Taiwan's security, and to spur her to further upgrade the island's defense system.
The last time a US delegation visited the island as a "personal signal" by Biden was on April 13 last year. A day later, his administration announced its decision to pull US forces out of Afghanistan. The Biden administration announced a $750 million arms deal with the island three months later.
A second deal of $100 million was approved on Feb 7, with the US administration citing the Ukraine crisis as an impetus. Nobody will be surprised if the Biden administration announces its approval of a third arms sales after the visit.
The reason why Tsai is trying to take advantage of the Ukraine crisis to arouse the international community's "empathy" with the island is that she wants to blur the line on the Taiwan question. But the international community is well aware that it is an internal affair of China.
Although the island's defense budget has risen from $11 billion when Tsai took her post in 2016 to $17 billion this year, much of which has found its way into the pockets of the US military complex, it has only served to fuel Tsai's anxiety.
Given that former secretary of state Mike Pompeo is visiting the island from Wednesday to Saturday hard on the heels of Biden's delegation, which is visiting from Tuesday to Wednesday, their reassuring words and salesmanship may ease Tsai's anxiety, albeit temporarily.
The US should match its words with deeds and uphold the one-China principle with sincerity. It was the 50th anniversary of the release of the Shanghai Communique on Monday, in which the US side acknowledged that Taiwan is a part of China and reaffirmed "its interest in a peaceful settlement of the Taiwan question by the Chinese themselves".
That's a responsible stance for the US to adopt today.
As for Tsai, her anxiety will continue to grow as it stems from her knowledge that her secessionist cause is doomed to failure as it goes against the will of the Chinese nation.
