US-TAIWAN 

1.Context

The recent February 16 update of the U.S. State Department factsheet on Taiwan calls for a revisit of U.S.-Taiwan relations. The factsheet now does not assert that “we do not support Taiwan independence” and states that the U.S. will support “Taiwan’s membership in international organisations where applicable”

2. Background

• China has condemned US Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan, calling it "extremely dangerous."

• It is the highest-ranking visit by an American politician to the island in 25 years.
• China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be under Beijing's control again.
• However, Taiwan sees itself as an independent country, with its constitution and democratically-elected leaders.
• China's President Xi Jinping has said "reunification" with Taiwan "must be fulfilled" - and has not ruled out the possible use of force to achieve this.

3. About Taiwan

• Taiwan is an island, roughly 100 miles from the coast of southeast China.
• It sits in the so-called "first island chain", which includes a list of US-friendly territories that are crucial to US foreign policy.

• If China was to take over Taiwan, some western experts suggest it could be freer to project power in the western Pacific region and could even threaten US military bases as far away as Guam and Hawaii.
• But China insists that its intentions are purely peaceful.

4. Historical Ties between China and Taiwan

• Historical sources suggest that the island first came under full Chinese control in the 17th Century when the Qing dynasty began administering it. Then, in 1895, they gave up the island to Japan after losing the first Sino-Japanese war.
• China took the island again in 1945 after Japan lost World War Two.
• But a civil war erupted in mainland China between nationalist government forces led by Chiang Kai-shek and Mao Zedong's Communist Party.
• The communists won in 1949 and took control of Beijing.
• Chiang Kai-shek and what was left of the nationalist party - known as the Kuomintang - fled to Taiwan, where they ruled for the next several decades.
• China points to this history to say that Taiwan was originally a Chinese province. But the Taiwanese point to the same history to argue that they were never part of the modern Chinese state that was first formed after the revolution in 1911 - or the People's Republic of China that was established under Mao in 1949.
• The Kuomintang has been one of Taiwan's most prominent political parties ever since - ruling the island for a significant part of its history.
• Currently, only 13 countries (plus the Vatican) recognise Taiwan as a sovereign country.
• China exerts considerable diplomatic pressure on other countries not to recognise Taiwan, or to do anything which implies recognition.
• Taiwan's defence minister has said relations with China are the worst they have been for 40 years.

5. Military preparedness of Taiwan

• China could attempt to bring about "reunification" by non-military means such as strengthening economic ties.
• But in any military confrontation, China's armed forces would dwarf those of Taiwan.
• China spends more than any country except the US on defence and could draw on a huge range of capabilities, from naval power to missile technology, aircraft and cyber attacks.
• Much of China's military power is focused elsewhere but, in overall terms of active duty personnel, for example, there is a huge imbalance between the two sides.

• In an open conflict, some western experts predict that Taiwan could at best aim to slow a Chinese attack, try to prevent a shore landing by Chinese amphibious forces, and mount guerrilla strikes whilst waiting for outside help.
• That help could come from the US which sells arms to Taiwan.
• Until now, Washington's policy of "strategic ambiguity" has meant the US has been deliberately unclear about whether or how it would defend Taiwan in the event of an attack.
• Diplomatically, the US currently sticks to the "One-China" policy, which recognises only one Chinese government - in Beijing - and has formal ties with China rather than Taiwan.

 One-China Policy:

The One China policy recognizes the long-held position in Beijing that there is only one China, and that Taiwan is a part of that.

“one country, two systems” approach?

• The principle of “one country, two systems” was first proposed by Deng Xiaoping as a way to restore the relationship between the communist mainland with historically Chinese territories (Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau)—that had capitalist economies. 

6. The unwelcome situations

• In 2021, China appeared to ramp up the pressure by sending military aircraft into Taiwan's Air Defence Zone, a self-declared area where foreign aircraft are identified, monitored, and controlled in the interests of national security.
• Taiwan made data on plane incursions public in 2020.
• The Taiwanese Parliament has passed the Anti-Infiltration Bill which sent the relations between Taiwan and China to a new low. This has been passed in the wake of the news that China has been influencing the media in Taiwan through illicit means, to influence the upcoming political elections.
• Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen has rejected Chinese President Xi Jinping’s call for unification under a “One Country Two Systems” approach and vowed to defend the island nation’s sovereignty. She maintained that the Hong Kong model would not work for Taiwan, as democracy and authoritarianism cannot co-exist in the same country. 
• China, however, claims Taiwan as its territory and wants to bring it under Beijing’s control even if it requires the use of force.

7. Importance of Taiwan for India and the world

• Taiwan's economy is hugely important.
• Much of the world's everyday electronic equipment - from phones to laptops, watches and games consoles - is powered by computer chips made in Taiwan.
• By one measure, a single Taiwanese company - the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company or TSMC - has over half of the world's market.

• A Chinese takeover in Taiwan could give Beijing some control over one of the world's most important industries.

8. Role of the US in Taiwan

• The US is by far Taiwan's most important friend and its only ally.
• In 1979, the US ended diplomatic recognition of Taiwan to concentrate on burgeoning ties with China.
• However, it later revoked and passed the Taiwan Relations Act, which promises to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons, and stressed that any attack by China would be considered of "grave concern" to the US.
• The Taiwan Travel Act aims to promote greater engagement between US and Taiwan.
• The US has also sought to leverage Taiwan to pressure China in the U.S.’s ongoing trade war.

9. Stand of India on the ongoing issue

• India’s policy on Taiwan is clear and consistent and it is focused on promoting interactions in areas of trade, investment and tourism among others.
• Government facilitates and promotes interactions in areas of trade, investment, tourism, culture, education and other such people-to-people exchanges.
• However, India doesn’t have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, but both sides have trade and people-to-people ties.