Two U.S. officials recently made new statements intended to clarify U.S. Taiwan policy amid China’s mounting aggression against Taiwan and “no limits” support for Russia in its increasingly genocidal war against Ukraine.
For years, U.S. officials, including those in the Trump and Biden administrations, have tried to mollify Beijing’s Taiwan paranoia by declaring, “We do not support Taiwan independence.” Kurt Campbell, director of China affairs at the Biden White House, has repeated the ritualistic statement on at least two occasions, intended to temper what Beijing sees as Washington’s growing pro-Taiwan sentiments.
Instead, the U.S. position through nine administrations has adhered to the mantra that America “supports the status quo” across the Taiwan Strait. Over the decades, however, the status quo has constantly changed — sometimes imperceptibly, other times more dramatically. It is not a static status quo but a dynamic one.
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