Explainer | US-China-Taiwan: how will Joe Biden change the balance?

Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was among the first to tweet her congratulations to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

The US president-elect is expected to walk a fine line that offers support to Taipei but does not antagonise Beijing

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Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen congratulated Joe Biden on winning the US presidency even though he has not spelt out his position on US-Taiwan relations. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 12:05am, 24 Nov 2020Updated: 11:24am, 24 Nov 2020

As Democrat Joe Biden is expected to enter the White House on January 20, observers of US-China-Taiwan relations weigh in on what the impact might be on the self-ruled Taiwan.

What is the status quo in relations between the US, China and Taiwan?

Since the Kuomintang (KMT) government retreated to Taiwan towards the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, the Chinese government has regarded Taiwan as a wayward province that must eventually be reunited with the mainland – by force if necessary.

Any move to steer the island towards independence would be seen as a violation of the one-China principle, which Beijing insists is the bedrock of cross-strait relations.

Washington switched diplomatic recognition of China from Taipei to Beijing in 1979. In doing so, the United States acknowledges that Taiwan is part of China and does not support Taiwan independence. But a joint communique signed at the time also states that the US will maintain cultural, commercial and other unofficial ties with the people of Taiwan.

Throughout his four-year term, US President Donald Trump took steps to strengthen ties with Taiwan, poking Beijing but always one step from crossing Beijing’s red line.

For example, Trump took a call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen after he was elected in 2016. That was the first time an American president-elect had spoken directly to Taiwan’s leader since 1979.

He also sent US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar to travel to the island in August, which made Azar the highest-ranking American official to visit Taiwan in 41 years.

Tsai was elected president after defeating the KMT in the presidential election in 2016. She was re-elected in January 2020.