Afghanistan Changes Hands Overnight, U.S. Reassures Security Commitment to Taiwan
Comprehensive Report by Taiwan Weekly
The withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan resulted in the abrupt collapse of Afghanistan’s government and has prompted a debate in Taiwan about the credibility of the U.S. commitments. President Joe Biden defended the American decision in a televised national speech on August 16. Mr. Biden emphasized that American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves. In a televised interview on August 18, President Biden reassured that the United States would honor its collective defense commitment to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and “every commitment” the United States made to Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan.
In the same speech on August 16 Biden maintained that the U.S. military had completed counterterrorism mission and the endless deployment of forces was not in the U.S. national interests. President Biden imputed the swift takeover of the Taliban to the situation that “Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country and the Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight. The developments of the past week reinforced that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now is the right decision.” President Biden asked how many more American lives should be sacrificed, and whether it is worth it. He would rather take all the criticism than pass this decision on to the next president.
Many international media including the New York Times considered that the U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan would affect allies such as Israel and Taiwan’s confidence in the United States.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan responded in the White House August 17 press briefing by saying that Taiwan is a fundamentally different question in a different context and the U.S. commitments to its allies and partners are sacrosanct and the American commitment to Taiwan and Israel remains as strong as it's ever been.
President Tsai Ing-wen spoke on Afghanistan on August 18 in the ruling Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) central standing committee meeting. She said that Taiwan’s only option is to make itself stronger, more united and more resolute in its determination to protect itself. It’s not an option for the people to do nothing and just to rely on other’s protection.
To the question whether the United States has again abandoned its allies, Biden responded in the ABC News interview on August 18 by saying that “if in fact anyone were to invade or take action against our NATO allies, we would respond. Same with Japan, same with South Korea, same with Taiwan. It's not even comparable to talk about that.”
In the White House press briefing on August 17, one reporter mentioned that China and Russia were touting U.S. humiliation in Afghanistan and warned Taiwan and other allies that “the U.S. won’t come to help if war breaks out.” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki answered that the U.S. message is very clear: The United States stands by, as is outlined in the Taiwan Relations Agreement, its commitments to Taiwan. She added that the United States stands by partners around the world who are subject to this kind of propaganda that Russia and China are projecting. And the United States is going to continue to deliver on those words with actions.
Spokesman Ned Price of the Department of State stated in an August 19 press briefing that the United States would continue to support a peaceful resolution of cross-strait relations consistent with the wishes and best interests of the Taiwan people. The United States does have an abiding interest in peace and security across the Taiwan Strait. The United States consider this central to the security and stability of the broader region, of the broader Indo-Pacific. Events elsewhere in the world, whether that’s in Afghanistan or any other region, are not going to change that.”
Spokesman Xavier Chang of the Office of the President expressed Taiwan’s gratitude to President Biden for his continued actions to support Taiwan such as the recent announcement of the first arms sale to Taiwan under his administration, which fulfills the Taiwan Relations Act and Six Assurances, demonstrating the U.S. commitment to Taiwan is rock solid.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed gratitude to President Biden and the U.S. government for the reassurance of U.S. security commitment to Taiwan and mentioned that Taiwan would continue to upgrade its defensive capabilities to maintain the hard-won freedoms and democratic institutions of the Taiwanese people. The Ministry specifically tagged Jake Sullivan’s statement that “the U.S. commitment to Taiwan is sacrosanct” and even enlarged the word “sacrosanct” in the Facebook photo card.
Chairman Johnny Chiang of the Kuomintang (KMT) countered that there was no need to exaggerate and over interpret Biden’s expression of U.S. commitment. He asked the DPP not to use Biden’s words for internal propaganda and maintained that the United States simply meant that the Taiwan policy remained unchanged, which was to continue “strategic ambiguity” in accordance with the Taiwan Relation Act.
Chairman Jaw Shaw-kong of Taiwan’s Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) indicated that the lesson learnt from Afghanistan was that the U.S. is not trustworthy. Jaw said that the Secretary of State Anthony Blinken promised on April 15 that the U.S. commitment to Afghanistan was solid, but now the United States has abandoned Afghanistan causing its government to collapse overnight. If the United States really wants to prove her solid commitment to Taiwan, it should sign a free trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan, which will truly benefit Taiwan; sell Taiwan F-35s and not dwelling on F-16s; and stop selling Taiwan pork containing ractopamine.
Despite that the Biden administration has reiterated its support to Taiwan, former President Donald Trump took a different view and considered Mr. Biden’s weak performance in Afghanistan might endanger Taiwan. In an interview by Fox News Mr. Trump said that he thinks bad things are going to happen with respect to Taiwan because China doesn’t respect American leadership, and it no longer respects the United States. And that’s a really bad thing.
From:
https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20210821000361-260119
https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20210818000330-260119
https://udn.com/news/story/6813/5688844
https://www.chinatimes.com/newspapers/20210819000345-260102
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20210818003834-260407
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20210820002055-260407
https://www.chinatimes.com/realtimenews/20210818004626-260407