Washington unqualified to define "status quo across Taiwan Strait"

Photo taken on July 21, 2019 from Xiangshan Mountain shows the Taipei 101 skyscraper in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan. (Xinhua/Zhu Xiang)

The Taiwan question is an internal Chinese matter that can only be resolved internally without the intervention of foreign forces.

by Wang Yingjin

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a recent interview made some provocative comments on the Taiwan question again, calling it "not an internal matter" based on China's sovereignty, but one to "the entire world."

The remarks proved once again how badly Washington wishes to undermine the one-China principle and define "the status quo across the Taiwan Strait" at its will, all in order to use Taiwan to contain China and go after its hegemonic interests in the Asia-Pacific.

But, as the true saboteur of peace and stability in the region and a liar who tries to blame China for changing the "status quo across the Taiwan Strait," Washington is in no position to make such a definition.

For a long time, Washington has pursued a "dual-track policy" toward Taiwan, claiming not to violate its long-standing one-China policy while providing illegitimate support for Taiwan authorities in violation of legal principles and moral grounds.

To fuel tensions across the Taiwan Strait, Washington has increased arms sales to Taiwan, sent lawmakers to the Chinese region, and revised the so-called "fact sheet on U.S. relations with Taiwan," to name a few.

It has also passed a series of bills that gradually distort, obscure, and hollow out the one-China principle, and has treated Taiwan as an "independent political entity" in an attempt to provide legitimacy for its intervention in the Taiwan question.

Claiming to "maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait," Washington attempts to maintain the situation of "no reunification and no independence" of Taiwan, a move in essence to obstruct China from resolving the Taiwan question, solidify the "split and partition" across the Taiwan Strait, and create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan" in disguise.

Photo taken on Jan. 19, 2023 shows the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, D.C., the United States. (Photo by Ting Shen/Xinhua)

Besides, Washington's version of the Taiwan question is ridiculous, irresponsible, and has no binding force on China. Nor has China ever accepted it.

The fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have not yet been reunified is a legacy of China's civil war. The Taiwan question is an internal Chinese matter that can only be resolved internally without the intervention of foreign forces. Achieving national reunification, which concerns China's legitimate right to development, is a just cause.

Washington, on the other hand, has been attempting to change the nature of the question, distort it into an international issue, and provide itself with a so-called "legal basis" by applying the rules of international law in dealing with territorial disputes between countries to the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Its self-defined "status quo across the Taiwan Strait" violates fundamental principles of international law such as mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as non-interference in each other's internal affairs, and severely undermines China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The true "status quo across the Taiwan Strait" is unmistakable: both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same China, Taiwan is a part of China, and China's sovereignty and territorial integrity have never been divided. Furthermore, when and how China resolves the Taiwan question are matters entirely within China's sovereignty and have nothing to do with Washington.

Warplanes of the Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) conduct operations during joint combat training exercises around the Taiwan Island, Aug. 7, 2022. (Photo by Wang Xinchao/Xinhua)

Although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have not yet achieved complete reunification, China has never given up on reunification. The official documents of the Communist Party of China and the Chinese government as well as speeches of China's leaders have always stated that the Taiwan question will be resolved and China's complete reunification will be realized.

As China's overall national strength continues to improve, the general trend of cross-Strait reunification has become unstoppable.

Against this backdrop, Washington's offshore balancing policy toward Taiwan, which states that "the mainland does not seek reunification and Taiwan does not seek independence," cannot be sustained.

In terms of the Taiwan question, China has become more determined, willing, and resourceful to protect national sovereignty and territorial integrity, both legally and morally.

If Washington continues down the wrong path, it will undoubtedly face stronger protests and more determined countermeasures from the Chinese people.

Editor's note: Wang Yingjin is a professor and director of the cross-Strait relations research center of the Renmin University of China.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Xinhua News Agency.