BEIJING (AP) 鈥� It鈥檚 a verbal tightrope have had to walk for nearly 50 years, where even small slip-ups when stating can trigger geopolitical alarm bells.
The way the U.S. views Taiwan under the policy recognizes the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China, while still allowing for informal U.S. relations with the self-governing island.
It is intended to be vague — built on what’s become known as strategic ambiguity. That is, the U.S. has agreed to ensure Taiwan has the resources to defend itself if China attempts to force a unilateral change, without saying how far it will go militarily to counter Beijing.
As assistant U.S. defense secretary Joseph Nye said in 1995 to Chinese officials wondering how the U.S. would react to a Taiwan crisis: 鈥淲e don鈥檛 know, and you don鈥檛 know.鈥�
鈥淭he idea was, stick to the very careful language that鈥檚 been crafted and don鈥檛 vary,鈥� said Mike McCurry, former White House press secretary under Bill Clinton. 鈥淏ecause there are too many people listening and paying attention.鈥�
Carefully balanced to protect Taiwan鈥檚 security and sovereignty without promising too much but also not irking Beijing, the policy could again be pushed into the spotlight during this week. In the past, some U.S. officials have flubbed it, requiring swift diplomatic cleanup.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the precision of the words,鈥� said John Kirby, who served across multiple Democratic administrations as a spokesman at the State Department and Pentagon and at President Joe Biden鈥檚 White House. 鈥淭hey just have to be so extraordinarily precise when you鈥檙e talking about Taiwan because, quite frankly, the stakes are enormously high.鈥�
A look at how the Taiwan policy has tripped up presidents:
Biden went too far repeatedly
He suggested four times that the U.S. would intervene militarily if China were to invade Taiwan, forcing White House officials to clarify that he wasn’t undoing decades of precedent.
During an August 2021 ABC 海角社区app interview, Biden talked about a U.S. commitment to respond militarily if NATO allies were attacked and added, 鈥淪ame with Taiwan.鈥� The White House later said that U.S. policy toward Taiwan hadn’t changed.
Biden that October that the U.S. was committed to defending Taiwan should China attack, resulting in similar White House backtracking.
In a May 2022 news conference in Tokyo, Biden if he was willing to use the military to defend Taiwan. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 the commitment we made,鈥� he added, forcing Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to reaffirm U.S. commitment to the 鈥淥ne China鈥� policy.
And Biden suggested similarly with CBS’ 鈥�60 Minutes,鈥� prompting more White House clarifications.
Trump’s first administration had flubs
Trump was president-elect in 2016 when he took a call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen 鈥� likely the first president to do so since the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with the island in 1979. He later scoffed at the hubbub, posting: 鈥淚nteresting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call.鈥�
The following year, the Trump White House issued a statement about a meeting in Germany between Xi and Trump that described Xi as president of the Republic of China, the formal name for Taiwan 鈥� not the correct People鈥檚 Republic of China. The event’s White House transcript was later altered to fix the mistake.
鈥淭here is a lot of difficulty to navigate a lot of these concepts. However, the reason why that is the case 鈥� a lot of misunderstanding and misspeaking 鈥� is because those concepts are conceptual traps set up by China,鈥� said Miles Yu, who was principal China policy adviser to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during Trump鈥檚 first administration. 鈥淵ou cannot explain something that鈥檚 unexplainable.鈥�
Yu, now a senior fellow and director of the China Center at the Hudson Institute, has advocated for more firmly stating the U.S. commitment to defending Taiwan. He said the concept of a 鈥淥ne China鈥� policy or a 鈥淥ne China鈥� principle, as Beijing calls its insistence that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, was 鈥渃ompletely of Chinese making.鈥�
鈥淣o one inside the Chinese high command has ever believed there is any ambiguity as to America鈥檚 resolve to defend Taiwan,鈥� Yu said.
Instead, he said, the U.S. has long adhered to plans to defend Taiwan in proportion to Chinese threats, as evidenced by Washington repeatedly mobilizing forces to the Taiwan Strait over the years amid heightened tensions.
Today, the Trump White House says there’s been no change in policy but scoffs at the idea of verbal gymnastics required in stating it, noting that Trump has approved major arms sales to Taiwan over the years.
The policy was always hard to articulate
After the Chinese civil war ended in 1949, Washington recognized Chiang Kai-shek鈥檚 as China鈥檚 leaders, even after that government fled from to . But, under an agreement with Beijing beginning in 1979 with Jimmy Carter, the U.S. began adhering to the 鈥淥ne China鈥� policy.
Carter鈥檚 administration spent months in secret negotiations with China to reach the agreement. Yet Carter later said that it 鈥渄oes nothing to prevent鈥� a future president or Congress from 鈥渆ven going to war鈥� to protect Taiwan.
Bill Clinton, during a 1998 roundtable in Shanghai, said he supported the 鈥渢hree no鈥檚鈥�: The U.S. not supporting Taiwan independence; not supporting the 鈥渢wo Chinas鈥� idea, which would be a separate China and Taiwan; and not backing Taiwan鈥檚 admittance into international organizations.
But the following year, Clinton said, 鈥淵ou know what I鈥檝e done in the past,鈥� seeming to point to previous U.S. military interventions and suggesting he could do something similar involving Taiwan.
During a 2001 interview with The Associated Press, George W. Bush was asked whether the U.S. might use military force to counter a Chinese attack on Taiwan and answered, 鈥淚t鈥檚 certainly an option.鈥� Bush later told CNN that didn鈥檛 mean the U.S. was toughening its stance, saying, 鈥淚 have said that I will do what it takes to help Taiwan defend itself.鈥�
Five years later, during a state visit to Washington by then-Chinese President Hu Jintao, Bush’s White House announcer mistakenly said the national anthem of the Republic of China would be played, instead of the People鈥檚 Republic of China. The correct anthem was ultimately played.
Some stayed on message
In 1989, George H.W. Bush said during a banquet in China that while the U.S. adheres to 鈥渢he bedrock principle that there is but one China, we have found ways to address Taiwan constructively without rancor.鈥�
During a 2014 joint news conference in Beijing with Xi, Barack Obama said, 鈥淲e encourage further progress by both sides of the Taiwan Strait towards building ties, reducing tensions and promoting stability on the basis of dignity and respect.鈥�
Still, getting it right can be tricky.
鈥淎nybody who has been at the State Department, the Pentagon or even the White House podium can tell you: When the issue of Taiwan came up, you went to your notes,鈥� Kirby said. 鈥淵ou didn鈥檛 freelance it.鈥�
Yet Kirby recalled that he 鈥済ot cocky once and didn’t,鈥� mischaracterizing the policy and causing 鈥渁 little kerfuffle.鈥�
Any big error usually first draws complaints from U.S. policy officials, Kirby said, who aren’t shy with their displeasure: 鈥淵ou鈥檒l be highly encouraged to make a statement correcting it right away.鈥�
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