NAIROBI: The United States is peddling a false sense of autonomy to Taiwan and sending a gravely wrong signal to “Taiwan independence” separatists by signing the TAIPEI Act into law recently, a Kenyan expert said here Sunday.
Noting that the so-called “Taiwan Allies International Protection and Enhancement Initiative (TAIPEI) Act of 2019” falsely recognizes Taiwan as an independent actor and legal entity under the purview of international law and principles, Cavince Adhere, an international relations expert with a focus on China-Africa relations, said signing the act into law is a clear sign of Washington bullying Beijing.
“The tacit push by the U.S. for Taiwan to maintain and entrench ‘diplomatic ties’ with other states and that it should hold special observer status in international organizations is an affront to the norms, principles and ideals that have shaped relations between Washington and Beijing for over four decades,” Adhere told Xinhua in an interview.
Adhere noted in particular Washington’s violation of the three China-U.S. joint communiques, the political foundation of the two countries’ diplomatic relations, which demand both countries maintain mutual recognition and non-interference in each other’s domestic affairs.
“The law, therefore, goes against the formal diplomatic ties the U.S. established with China 41 years ago,” he said.
Besides, the United States knew that the act is offensive to Beijing considering the enduring one-China principle, which has been accepted as a standard framework of engagement between China and other countries, Adhere noted.
Still, Washington “went ahead and signed the act into law despite stern protests from China. This is certainly bound to cause diplomatic friction between China and the U.S.,” he said.
Since the normalization of relations between the United States and China, the two countries have enjoyed unprecedented mutual benefit from deepening cooperation in economy and other major fields, Adhere said.
However, Washington’s recent signing of the act will seriously disrupt U.S.-China relations, undermine bilateral cooperation, and eventually hurt the fundamental interests of the American people, he said.
The consequences of any antagonism between the United States and China will also be felt beyond the borders of the world’s top two economies at a time when the world needs to be united and tread a common path, he said. – Agencies
