The United Stated made two major moves regarding Taiwan. The first was that, on August 9, 2020, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Alex Azar visited Taiwan and, on August10, met with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. This is the highest ranked U.S. official to visit Taiwan. The second one was that the U.S. and Taiwan are in negotiation for the U.S. to sell Taiwan at least four MQ-9B SeaGuardian surveillance drones which have a range of 6,000 nautical miles (11,100 km).
China’s Foreign Ministry issued a standard protest. People’s Daily and Xinhua didn’t comment much on either event, but Huanqiu and some other media commented on it, either cursing the U.S. or trying to downplay the event.
#1: On August 5, Wang Wenbin, Spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Ministry, stated at the press conference, that China urges the US to abide by the one-China policy and the provisions of the three Sino-US Joint Communiqués, to stop all forms of official exchanges between the U.S. and Taiwan, to handle Taiwan-related issues carefully and properly, and to refrain from sending any wrong signals to the “Taiwan independence” forces so as to avoid serious damage to Sino-US relations.
On August 5, Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, stated at a press conference, that it is very dangerous for the Democratic Progressive Party authorities to collude with foreign countries and willingly play the role of a U.S.’ pawn.
On August 5, Lu Xiang, an expert on American issues at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times reporter that in 2000 and again in 2014, the U.S. had sent high-ranking officials (Department of Transportation and Environment Protection Agency) to visit Taiwan. They were sent during those two President’s second terms when they no longer considered re-election. This time, the HHS Secretary ranked higher than those two who were sent previously, based on the order of succession of Department heads to take the president’s seat if the current President is unable to perform his duties. In addition, Trump sent him to Taiwan in his first presidential term. This showed that Trump is gambling. Under the Coronavirus pandemic and economic pressure, Trump does not know how to play the chess game anymore. He just throws chess pieces onto the board. Now he has run out of pieces and throws bricks instead. (Global Times)
#2: Global Times said there was a huge controversy and debate in Taiwan regarding Azar’s visit. It said that some Taiwan netizens furiously claimed that Azar would put Taiwan into two bad areas: the pandemic (brought from the U.S.) and a crisis over the strait (between Taiwan and China). (Global Times)
#3: The Taiwan Strait Net commented that “jointly fighting the pandemic” is just a cover (for Azar’s visit). The U.S. has only one “strategy” to fight the pandemic: Blame China. Taiwan’s “magic operation (against the coronavirus)” was nothing but avoid testing. It said that quite a few people were worried, “(Azar) came from the U.S.? Shouldn’t he be quarantined?” (Taiwan Strait Net)
#4: Sina commented on the U.S. selling drones to Taiwan. “As the presidential election is coming up, the political in-fighting in the U.S. has intensified. Some politicians in the U.S. view playing the ‘Taiwan card’ as a measure that is low cost and has a quick return. However, playing the “Taiwan card” shows the U.S. lacks self-confidence and worries about its China policy. (Sina)
#5: Global Times said that some Taiwan netizens identified this drones transaction as Taiwan paying a “protection fee” to the U.S. “In the American’s eye, sending the HHS Secretary over to bring back $600 million is definitely worth it.” “The U.S. just takes Taiwan as an ATM machine.” (Global Times)
#6: Back on May14, 2020, Global Times commented on Taiwan’s purchasing 4 MQ-9 Reaper drones as not getting enough for the mainland to shoot down and claimed that these drones are nothing but target drones to be killed. (Global Times)
Related postings on Chinascope:
- Taiwan: Taiwan Was Flooded with Fake News from Beijing’s Cyberspace Army
1. Excerpt in Chinese:
对此，外交部发言人汪文斌5日在外交部例行记者会上表示，台湾问题是中美关系当中最重要最敏感的问题，一个中国原则是中美关系的政治基础，中方敦促美方恪守一个中国原则和中美三个联合公报的规定，停止一切形式的美台官方往来，慎重妥善处理涉台问题，不向“台独”势力发出任何错误信号，以免严重损害中美关系和台海和平稳定。汪文斌强调说：“一个中国原则为国际社会所公认，任何无视、否定或者挑战一个中国原则的企图都将以失败而告终。”
国台办发言人马晓光5日在记者会上表示，台湾问题是中国内政，不允许外部势力插手干涉。民进党当局挟洋自重、甘当棋子，与美方勾连，获取政治私利，损害两岸同胞共同利益，是十分危险的，也是不可能得逞的。
中国社科院美国问题专家吕祥吕祥5日告诉《环球时报》记者，按美国总统不能履职情况下的顺位排序，卫生部长在交通部长和环境保护署署长之前，“2000年和2014年两次美高官访台有两个共同点，第一，所派官员职位不甚敏感（交通运输和环保部门），在美国内阁官员中排名靠后；第二，都是发生在时任总统的第二任期，也就是不再考虑自己连选连任的时刻。”吕祥认为，阿扎虽然是内阁中排名靠后的官员，但比前两位略高。在时机选择上，则有明显区别，“这是特朗普在第一任期末尾的‘垃圾时间’做出的决定，而且是在中美关系正处于高度动荡和不确定的时期发生，后果势必更严重。”
吕祥认为，从美方的动机看，这表明特朗普期望利用“台湾牌”在自己执政末期再“搏一把”，同时也迎合了蔡英文当局踩着红线边缘的“游戏”方式，“ 当前，全球各国都面临着控制疫情和恢复经济的巨大压力，而美国这几个月来可谓昏招迭出，不仅疫情失控，而且经济恢复难见曙光。之前我们说，特朗普已经不知如何下棋，而只是往棋盘上随意扔棋子；现在棋子扔光了，就开始往棋盘上随意扔‘砖头’。”吕祥同时提到，派卫生部长这样的非敏感职位官员前往，也表明美台双方都心知肚明，一旦过火，中国政府的反应必将是严厉的。
Source: Global Times, August 6, 2020
https://taiwan.huanqiu.com/article/3zLoEeA8vM8
2. Excerpt in Chinese:
阿扎要来台湾的消息自曝光后，已在岛内引起巨大争议。有台湾网民怒称，阿扎赴台会陷台湾“2个不义”，包括“疫情”和“台海危机”。有网民质疑，全世界疫情最严重国家的卫生部长来分享经验？还有网民讽刺台当局称，（美国）有什么好（向台湾）取经，不筛检就好啦，顶多叫美国人多戴口罩。
Source: Global Times, August 6, 2020
https://taiwan.huanqiu.com/article/3zMD9hmmYYJ
3. Excerpt in Chinese:
要说交流防疫成功经验？恐怕是屈指可数，本来美国卫生部长此访目的也是司马昭之心，“合作抗疫”不过是个幌子。但要说“奇葩”操作，那可有的聊。美国抗疫“策略”至今基本就一条：甩锅中国+阴谋论。而台湾“神操作”则是不检测：据世界即时统计数据（Worldmeter），疫情至今，台湾仅进行了8万例核酸检测，相当于每千人筛检3人左右，全球215个国家地区中排名倒数第41。
对此，不少台湾民众急了：美国来的？不隔离吗？
Source: Taihai (Taiwan Strait) Net, August 7, 2020
http://www.taihainet.com/news/twnews/latq/2020-08-07/2413555.html
4. Excerpt in Chinese:
近期，美国在对华政策中频频出现负面动向，此时打“台湾牌”则成为美对华施压的重要抓手。
随着的临近，美国国内政治斗争更加激烈，此时通过多种方式对华施压，成为某些美国政客实现政治目标的重要手段。打“台湾牌”，则被某些美国政客视为成本较低、收效甚快的一种方式。
打“台湾牌”反映出的，正是美国在对华政策上的不自信和焦虑。
Source: Sina, August 8, 2020
https://news.sina.cn/2020-08-08/detail-iivhvpwx9945451.d.html
5. Excerpt in Chinese:
有台湾网友批评这笔交易案又是一笔保护费，还有人借美国卫生部长“访台”一事讽刺说，在美国人看来一个部长来台换176亿（新台币）订单，“怎么想都划算”。“（台湾）帮美国侦察还要花大钱”，“把台湾当提款机”。
Source: Global Times, August 7, 2020
https://taiwan.huanqiu.com/article/3zMsYQwAA0V
6. Excerpt in Chinese:
接受《环球时报》采访的大陆专家表示，台媒号称台军采购“死神”无人机和“大陆威胁”有关。但台军如果真的要用4架“死神”来对抗大陆，完全不够大陆打。专家表示，这种中空长航时察打一体无人机自身防护能力较差，基本没什么突防能力，用于低烈度冲突尚可，用于高强度冲突，只能充当靶机来“送死”。
Source: Global Times, May 14, 2020
https://mil.huanqiu.com/article/3yEJgKHxZfo