A complete and insightful breakdown of the impact of @SecPompeo's recent waves of abrupt decisions regarding #Taiwan. By @BonnieGlaser, @RichardBushIII and Mike Green: csis.org/analysis/pompe…
"However, we were skeptical why Secretary of State Pompeo announced in the 11th hour that all previous rules governing unofficial U.S. interaction with Taiwan are suddenly “null and void”—essentially signaling that Taiwan can expect the full range of diplomatic treatment...
... it enjoyed before normalization with Beijing in 1979. This is not because we oppose expanding unofficial interactions with Taiwan, but because of the capricious and dubious way this decision was unveiled.
"First, a decision to eliminate a set of policies that were carefully calibrated by Republican and Democratic administrations over four-plus decades and that have significant geopolitical implications should be based on deliberate consideration of the objectives being served...
... and the risks and benefits involved, coordinated with Congress and allies, and established for that administration itself to administer over the coming years."
"Such a major shift in policy should not be dropped on a Saturday morning by an outgoing administration mired in the worst crisis of democracy in our nation’s modern history—effectively forcing the next administration to deal with a fait accompli."
"This only incentivizes Beijing to put even greater pressure on the new administration to place stricter restrictions on Taiwan. And if the issue was so necessary, why wait until the last minute to announce the change?"
"There is merit in that statement. So what was the rush in doing this now, particularly since many changes to these guidelines have and can be made quietly?
We cannot think of an earlier case where an outgoing administration deliberately burdened its successor with a problem in China policy this way."
"Second, at a time when Taiwan needs and deserves bipartisan support, this decision appears intended to dare the incoming Biden administration to reverse it—essentially allowing Republicans on the Hill and...
... aspiring presidential candidates to claim they are the true defenders of democratic Taiwan and opponents of communist China."
"when Taiwan policy has been politicized in the past and support for Taiwan set up as a political litmus test, bilateral relations have always suffered. This is something neither the United States nor...
... Taiwan can afford at a time when increasing Chinese hubris and coercion require us and our allies to be in lock step with Taipei."
"Finally, this move does little to compensate for the failings in U.S. policy toward Asia over the past four years that have left Taiwan more vulnerable. Withdrawing from the Trans-Pacific Partnership deprived Taiwan of its best chance for a multilateral trade agreement...
... that would have reduced dependence on China for economic growth."
"It goes without saying that the president’s own egregious behavior has weakened the credibility of the United States as a champion of the democratic norms Taiwan has established for itself and as a model for the rest of Asia."
"The outgoing administration deserves credit for advancing defense relations with Japan and pushing back against China militarily—but Taiwan’s liberal democracy can only survive in an ecosystem of rules and norms that the administration has badly damaged.
This last-minute move will not change any of that."

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More from @WilliamYang120

17 Jan
Latest: The Trump administration made a series of surprising moves regarding Asia policy over the last week, while @JoeBiden revealed the candidate for the new role overseeing Indo-Pacific region. I talked to @kharisborloff about what these mean: williamyang-35700.medium.com/the-trump-admi…
"With less than a week from leaving the office, the Trump administration has been making some major moves regarding Washington’s policies for Asia Pacific."
"On January 9, U.S. Secretary State Mike Pompeo announced that the U.S. would scrap all existing limitations on interaction between Taiwanese and U.S. officials and on January 12, the White House declassified a security paper related to the Indo-Pacific Strategy."
Read 26 tweets
17 Jan
25 hours after he arrived in Xian, #China to visit the detained Chinese human rights lawyer Chang Weiping, Chinese human rights Xie Yang remains missing.
According to information provided by Xie's wife, police in Xian took him and another human rights lawyer Chen Keyun to a five star hotel and put them under detention. They confiscated both lawyers' phones and identification cards. Three police reportedly tried to take Xie ...
... back to Changsha, where he is based and now he remains out of touch with people around him.
Read 4 tweets
17 Jan
The CEO of @HSBC Noel Quinn wrote a letter to former #HongKong pro-democracy legislator @tedhuichifung to explain why they froze him and his family’s bank accounts. He claimed that after receiving notification from police, the bank had no choice but to take actions.
”HSBC to provide the legal basis to freeze the accounts of mine and my family members’, i.e., under which section and which Hong Kong Ordinance. Under the Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance.”
“Secondly, HSBC has not explained why my family members are also “collectively punished”. Would it be due to the ridiculous conclusion that every member of my family and every single credit cards and accounts of theirs were involved with suspicious transactions?”
Read 5 tweets
16 Jan
Latest: Chinese human rights lawyer @yuwensheng was able to meet his wife @xuyan709 for the first time in three years since his detention in 2018. She described how much he has changed and she also talked about his deteriorating health conditions. williamyang-35700.medium.com/detained-chine…
On Thursday, Chinese human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng met his wife Xu Yan for the first time in three years, even though it was done through videoconference.
In that morning, Xu took out a court-issued document that informed her to apply for a meeting with her husband at the Xuzhou City Detention Center, demanding to schedule a meeting with her husband.
Read 31 tweets
16 Jan
Five #HongKong people who successfully fled to #Taiwan last year have arrived in the U.S. through the support of people in both countries. They plan to apply for asylum. They told @appledaily_hk that they don’t think there is still fair trials in #HK. hk.appledaily.com/local/20210116…
Among the five of them include two who face charges including assaulting police and rioting. @samuelmchu, who has been lobbying support for #HongKong in the US that the five of them have arrived in the US this week.
One of them with the pseudo name Kenny compared his fortune to that of the 12 #HongKong people who failed to flee to #Taiwan and are now serving jail sentences in #China. He said he was fortunate to have made it to Taiwan.
Read 4 tweets
16 Jan
UNHRC elected Fiji's ambassador as its 2021 president in an unprecedented secret ballot after a diplomatic standoff blocked the usual consensus decision. #China, Russia and Saudi Arabia tried to back other countries to spoil the original consensus. dw.com/en/un-rights-b…
"Observers and diplomats saw Fiji's rivals as being backed by Russia, China and Saudi Arabia, although a Chinese diplomat said he would be happy for any of the three candidates to win."
The deadlock over the presidency came at the start of a year that is widely expected to see the United States rejoin the rights body after quitting the forum in 2018, and with a review of the council's activities expected to begin.
Read 5 tweets

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