Taipei, March 19 (CNA) Recent comments by the director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) show that the United States supports Taiwan’s efforts to crack down on Chinese espionage, but do not represent a substantive change in policy, former U.S. officials and scholars told CNA.
At a news conference on March 13, Lai stated that China in recent years has intensified its efforts to infiltrate Taiwanese society and sow division through influence operations.
Saying that such actions classify China as a “hostile foreign force” under Taiwan’s Anti-Infiltration Act, he proposed a range of measures to counter the threat.
They include restoring the military court system, tightening restrictions on Chinese travelers and new residents, and monitoring civil servants who travel to China for exchanges.
Similar actions may have been treated warily by the U.S. in the past, as was the case during the 2000-2008 administration of Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), out of concern for raising tensions with Beijing.
But in a speech on Monday, AIT Director Raymond Greene said Lai’s initiative would “further enhance [the United States’] ability to cooperate with Taiwan.”
Asked whether Greene’s comments marked a shift in U.S. policy toward Taiwan, Robert S. Wang, who served as deputy director of the AIT from 2006 to 2009, said he viewed U.S. policy as unchanged in its opposition to any attempt to “unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion.”
“It should be clear to most people that Beijing, with its dramatically increased military exercises and cyber threats against Taiwan in recent years” is the one changing the status quo in a coercive manner, Wang said.
Greene’s statement, which stems from a recognition of this fact, was most certainly approved not only by the U.S. State Department but also the National Security Council, Wang said.
“It appears they consider Lai’s statement justified in the face of Beijing’s recent actions,” he said.
Julian Ku, a law professor at Hofstra University, also cast doubt on whether the U.S. response marked a shift in policy.
“The U.S. has long been concerned about Chinese espionage in Taiwan, which is one of the reasons the U.S. military has been reluctant to share the most advanced military technology with Taiwan,” he said, citing the F-35 fighter jet as an example.
At the same time, Taiwan’s “asymmetric” strategy for countering China may require some of the U.S.’ most advanced drones and anti-ship missiles, which is why Taiwan’s anti-espionage efforts would be looked on favorably, Ku said.
Meanwhile, Richard C. Bush, who served as AIT chairman from 1997 to 2002, said U.S. policy had adjusted to a “significant change in China’s policy approach to Taiwan’s leadership and people,” which began in 2016 after the election of Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
From that time, he said, Beijing shifted away from trying to persuade Taiwan to move toward unification and began relying on “coercion without violence” against DPP governments and the Taiwanese people.
“The U.S. government opposes this use of coercion and so has taken a number of steps to support Taiwan as it seeks to respond,” Bush said.
