Taiwan in focus when the US and China met

Both China and the US say they are interested in a continued good climate for talks, but China maintains that the issue of Taiwan is decisive for the relationship.

Senior diplomatic representatives of the two great powers met on Saturday in the Thai capital, Bangkok. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan in what China describes as “sincere, substantive and fruitful” talks.

At the same time, signals are coming from the US that Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping are planning telephone conversations.

During the talks in Bangkok, among other things, the war in Gaza and its consequences were discussed. The US is said to have asked China to put pressure on Iran to stop the Huthi movement’s attacks on ships in the Red Sea.

However, the focus was on the issue of Taiwan, where President Lai Ching-Te, who was elected two weeks ago, has been called a “troublemaker” and “warmonger” by Beijing.

“The biggest threat to Sino-American relations is the so-called Independent Taiwan movement,” writes China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs after Saturday’s meeting.

Since the election on January 13, an unofficial US delegation has visited Taiwan, where, among others, former national security adviser Stephen Hadley met with President Lai and emphasized that the US commitment to Taiwan is “very stable”.

The visit angered China, which sees the island nation as part of China and has threatened to intervene.

Ahead of the meeting, Taiwan’s Ministry of Defense reported that more than thirty Chinese warplanes and seven warships had been targeted around the island nation in the past 24 hours. It is the biggest show of force that China has carried out around Taiwan since Lai Ching-Te was elected.