After the visit of US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, to Taiwan on August 2, 2022, to extend the support of the US to Taiwan, tensions have flared up between Taiwan and China. China accused the US of backtracking on the One-China Policy. On Pelosi’s visit to Taipei, China condemned her visit saying that “this is a serious violation of the One-China Principle, and has asked India to stick to the One-China Policy, and not to increase friendly relations with Taiwan, following the footsteps of the US. Taiwan recognises itself as a self-owned island, an independent country, officially called the ‘Republic of China’ (ROC). Any country that wishes to have diplomatic relations with the mainland China must break official ties with Taipei. This has resulted in Taiwan’s diplomatic isolation from the international community.
What is One-China Policy?
The One-China Policy is the key foundation for the Sino-US relations. It is also the fundamental ground of Chinese policy-making and diplomacy. It is the diplomatic acknowledgement of China’s position that there is only one Chinese government. The US recognises and has formal ties with mainland China officially known as the People’s Republic of China (PRC) rather than the island of Taiwan. China sees Taiwan as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland China one day. In the 1980s, the US shifted to using ‘policy’ in place of ‘principle’ in order to differentiate between the US approach and China’s version. One-China Policy is distinct from that of the One-China Principle. The One-China Principle means that Taiwan is an inalienable part of One-China, which would be reunified one day whereas Taiwan considers herself as an independent country.
For India, the One-China Policy also includes Tibet. Though India does not recognise Taiwan or Tibet as independent of China, there is an emphasis on India to reconsider her stance over China’s continued aggression of Indian borders.
Background
After the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Mao Zedong’s communist forces ousted Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang (KMT)-led government of the ROC whose defeated forces escaped to Taiwan and established their own government. A communist invasion of Taiwan was prevented by the US threat of intervention. However, no ceasefire or peace treaty was signed between the PRC and ROC (Taiwan).
Though the US shifted its embassy from Taipei to PRC, the US also passed the Taiwan Relations Act to still maintain an all-informal relation with Taiwan. The act guaranteed support for Taiwan stating that the US would help Taiwan to defend itself. Due to this, the US still continues to sell arms to Taiwan. The US maintains an unofficial presence in Taipei via the American Institute in Taiwan, a private corporation through which it carries out diplomatic activities.
Status of Taiwan
One of the requirements for any political entity to establish diplomatic relations with the PRC is for them not to legally recognise the ROC. Only 15 countries in the world recognise ROC—Belize, Guatemala, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Nicaragua, Palau, Paraguay, St Lucia, St Kitts and Nevis, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Swaziland, and Tuvalu. The United Nations (UN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) do not officially recognise the ROC as an independent country. Taiwan has to undergo extraordinary naming distortions for participating in events and institutions, like the Olympic Games and the WTO.
However, Taiwan maintains vibrant economic and cultural ties with its neighbours, and leverages on its long-term emotional relationship with the US for availing concessions. The US gets benefited from its formal relations with PRC, which is its top trade partner. On the other hand, the US also continues to maintain its strong ties with Taiwan.
India’s Stance on One-China Policy
India has been one of the first non-communist countries to recognise Zedong’s PRC in 1950. India does not have formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and follows the One-China Policy. However, during the visit of the then Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao in December 2010, India did not mention support for the One-China Policy in the joint communique as Beijing had started issuing ‘stapled visas’ instead of normal visas to Jammu and Kashmir residents travelling to China.
In 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, he had invited Taiwan’s Ambassador Chung-Kwang Tien, along with the President of the Central Tibetan Administration, Lobsang Sangay, to his swearing-in ceremony.
Further, India has an office in Taipei, India-Taipei Association (ITA), for diplomatic functions which are headed by a senior diplomat. Taiwan has the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi. Both these offices were established in 1995. These organisations focus on commerce, culture, and education. They have been keeping a low-profile, owing to China’s susceptibility.
Nevertheless, India has recently tried to play up its relationship with Taiwan, as its ties with China were strained after the Galwan clashes. Therefore, India has appointed the then Joint Secretary (Americas) in the Ministry of External Affairs, Gourangala Das, as the envoy in Taipei.
In August 2020, while condoling the death of former Taiwan President, Lee Teng-hui, India had described him as ‘Mr Democracy’, which is perceived as a message to Beijing. Taiwan’s current President, Tsai Ing-wen, is considered Lee’s follower.
In 2021, India had clarified that the Government of India’s policy on Taiwan is clear and consistent. The government would facilitate and promote interactions in areas of trade, investment, tourism, culture, education, and people-to-people exchanges.
India’s Stand on Pelosi’s Visit
After the visit of the US House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, in Taiwan, India has not sent across any political statement on Taiwan, and has been a keen observer. Although, the Chinese embassy in Delhi had issued three statements, reiterating that “this is a serious violation of the One-China Principle”.
In May 2022, a visiting fellow at the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation, in Taipei, had stated that India should consider adopting a bold, comprehensive, and long-term approach to engage Taiwan. The Tsai government is keen on expanding areas of cooperation with India as it is one of the priority countries for Taiwan’s New Southbound Policy. India, too, is paying attention to the need to advance India-Taiwan ties.
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