It is not risky to predict that life will remain the same in Taiwan after the pro-independence victory last Saturday. Yesterday, the United States and China persisted with their usual gestures of the past eight years: first, with visits reaffirming their support; The second is to extract allies from him in order to erase his mark in the world.
A trip of representatives from Washington to Taipei was announced last week regardless of the outcome of the polls. The United States tried to play it down by talking about an unofficial visit, a personal visit, an unofficial visit… and these are two retired officials: Stephen Hadley, the former National Security Advisor, and James Steinberg, the former Under Secretary of State.
It is common for Washington to describe trips that closely resemble it as unofficial and then accuse China of hysteria. The representatives promised, perhaps on behalf of the US government, that support for Taiwan was “rock solid” and that their country “stands with its friends.” Both met with outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen, her successor Lai Ching-et, and future Vice President and former de facto ambassador to Washington Hsiao Pi-chim. The second, which will be opened in May, expressed to its guests his desire to “deepen mutual cooperation to ensure peace, development and prosperity in the region.”
It is not an unprecedented maneuver. Barack Obama already sent a former official to Taipei in 2016 after Tsai's first victory. Beijing's reaction was similar. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed its rejection of any form of “official exchange” and any interference by Washington “in any form and under any pretext.”
The meetings of representatives of Taiwan and the United States irrevocably upset Beijing. After Nancy Pelosi, then the third US Politburo, visited the island, Chinese ships and planes trained to blockade Taiwan for several days.
The day emerged from the defection of Taiwan's allied group from Nauru, a small Micronesian island with a population of 11,000, which embraced Beijing after the inevitable strike on Taipei, and which maintains only 12 uninterested countries in its orbit.
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