Top China Official Is Called By Blinken To Preserve “Stability” While Taiwan Casts Votes

Washington: On Friday, hours before Taiwanese voters were scheduled to cast ballots for a new president, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken begged Beijing to uphold cross-strait stability in a meeting with a top Chinese official.

Blinken spoke with Liu Jianchao, the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Committee’s foreign division when he was shot back in Washington between his most recent tour of the Middle East crises and a visit to the World Economic Forum in Davos.
A spokesperson for the State Department, Matthew Miller, said in a statement that “the two sides had a constructive discussion on a range of bilateral, regional, and global issues, including areas of potential cooperation and areas of difference.”

“The Secretary reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the South China Sea.”

Beijing claims Taiwan is a self-governing democracy. As Taiwan prepares for elections this Saturday, Beijing has labeled the leading candidate, Lai Ching-te, a “severe danger” because of her previous remarks supporting complete independence.

However, Lai has exercised caution while running for office, and US officials have said in private that they do not consider the remarks and actions of the Chinese to be unusual for an election in Taiwan.

Although it only recognizes Beijing, the US arms Taiwan to protect it since China hasn’t ruled out using force to “reunify.”

State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Thursday that the US has “deep confidence in Taiwan’s democratic process and believe it is for Taiwan voters to decide their next leader free from outside interference.”

Following the election, the government of President Joe Biden intends to send a “unofficial” delegation to Taiwan; this step was preempted and regarded as standard.

Taiwan has particularly strong support in the US Congress, where a resolution praising the country was overwhelmingly voted by the Senate on Thursday. The resolution praised Taiwan for the “example it has set for self-governance, not just for the Pacific region, but for the world.”

Additionally, Blinken had a private meeting on Friday at the State Department with Japan’s Foreign Minister, Yoko Kamikawa, a key US ally.

The visit by Liu, who is seen as a rising star in Chinese government, coincides with increased communication between China and the US to reduce tensions that have spiked in recent years.

Presidents Biden and Xi Jinping of the two superpowers met in San Francisco in November and decided to restart military talks, which Washington views as essential to averting disasters.

Liu adopted a conciliatory stance and offered no criticism of the United States during her speech on Tuesday at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

He said Beijing had taken notice of US declarations that it would not support Taiwanese independence, but he would not predict how China will react to Taiwan’s elections.

Liu had a meeting at the White House earlier with the deputy national security adviser, Jon Finer.