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Taiwan president Tsai Ing-wen has taken a harder line against the mainland than her predecessor, Beijing-friendly Ma Ying-jeou. Photo: AFP

China Diplomacy

Explainer | How Taiwan’s relations with mainland China have changed under president Tsai Ing-wen

Relationship between Taipei and Beijing has gone from friendly to frosty since 2016, as Washington ties grow warmer
First milestone in the downward spiral was Tsai’s unprecedented conversation with then president-elect Donald Trump

Taiwan

Kristin Huang

Published: 5:00am, 15 Jun 2021

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Under former president Ma Ying-jeou, Taiwan had a friendly relationship with Beijing but his successor Tsai Ing-wen has taken a harder line against the mainland since she stepped up in 2016.

Tsai, from the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, has also fostered warming relations between Washington and Taipei. This has met with increasing hostility from Beijing, whose military strength grows by the day.

US should help Taiwan prepare for irregular war, hearing told, but experts fear destabilising region

China regards the island as a breakaway province, separated due to civil war, and has said it will reunify the island by force if necessary. However, the United States sees the island as a de facto ally and has promised to support its self-defence capability.

Here are some of the key milestones in the cross-strait relationship since Tsai took office.

May 20, 2016: Tsai’s inauguration

Tsai is officially sworn in as Taiwan’s president, succeeding Beijing-friendly Ma Ying-jeou and ending a cordial period between Beijing and Taipei.

December 1, 2016: Tsai calls Trump

Tsai initiates an unprecedented phone conversation with then-US president-elect Donald Trump, marking the first such conversation between a Taiwanese leader and any US president or president-elect since the US cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in 1979.

10:22

Why has the relationship between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan taken a turn for the worse?

March 17, 2018: Taiwan Travel Act

Defying a warning from Beijing, Trump signs the Taiwan Travel Act, which allows American officials to step up exchanges with Taiwan.

January 2, 2019: Xi calls for dialogue

Chinese President Xi Jinping says both sides of the Taiwan Strait should begin talks on reunification to end decades of animosity. He is the first head of state in China to openly call for such a political dialogue, but his proposal is met with robust criticism from Taiwan.

02:21

Xi: China will not give up use of military force over Taiwan

July 9, 2019: US approves arms sale to Taiwan

The US tentatively approves the sale of US$2 billion in military hardware to Taiwan, including 108 M1A2T Abrams tanks, Hercules armoured vehicles and heavy equipment transporters, to demonstrate its support for the island.

July 11, 2019: Tsai visits the US

In a visit that includes stopovers in New York and Denver, Tsai says at a reception held in Taiwan’s representative offices in New York that people on the island will “never be intimidated”. Beijing had strongly urged the US government to block the visit.

02:17

‘One China’ explained

September 20, 2019: Taiwan loses Kiribati

Pacific nation Kiribati severs diplomatic ties with Taiwan and establishes foreign relations with China – the seventh country to cut ties with Taiwan since Tsai took office.

Tsai says it is “a big mistake” for the Pacific country to give up on a sincere friend and become “China’s chess piece”.

April 9, 2020: China stops student exchanges

After nine years of sending mainland Chinese students to study in Taiwan, Beijing suspends the programme, which helped promote cross-strait exchanges and understanding, citing the pandemic and cross-strait relations.

Taiwan scrambles for vaccines after Covid-19 breaches its defences

May 20, 2020: Tsai’s second term starts with military threat

The day Tsai is sworn in for a second term, an influential mainland Chinese military magazine releases a video outlining a potential attack on Taiwan’s defence systems via air and land.

September 17, 2020: Chinese aircraft patrol Taiwan Strait

Chinese military aircraft begin daily patrols over the southern part of the Taiwan Strait. The largest deployment is in April, when Beijing sends 25 fighter jets and bombers.

Risk of Taiwan Strait conflict ‘at all-time high’, Beijing-backed think tank says

October 8, 2020: Clash in Fiji

Taiwan accuses mainland Chinese diplomats of gatecrashing a reception to celebrate Taiwan’s national holiday in Fiji’s capital, Suva, and injuring a Taiwanese staffer that tried to stop them.

China’s embassy says the Taiwanese staffer “acted provocatively against the Chinese embassy staff who were carrying out their official duties in the public area outside the function venue”, causing injuries and damage to a Chinese diplomat.

Taiwan denounces mainland China for ‘brutal and irrational actions’ after spat in Fiji ends with worker in hospital

October 22, 2020: US approves another arms deal to Taiwan

The US approves potential arms sales to Taiwan worth around US$1.8 billion, comprising three weapons systems including rocket launchers, sensors and artillery. Taiwan welcomes the news, saying the weapons will help improve its defence capabilities.

Beijing maintains US arms sales to the island severely damage its sovereignty and security interests.

April 10, 2021: US-Taiwan diplomatic relations step up

The US State Department issues a new guideline encouraging diplomatic engagement with Taiwan, a move welcomed by the island. The same month, the US embassy in France invites Taiwan’s envoy to a meeting, marking a first since 1979 when the US broke off diplomatic relations with Taipei.

02:02

US delegation visits Taiwan as Beijing warns of military action against the island

June 6, 2021: Military vaccine delivery

Three US senators take a C-17 military plane to Taiwan to announce the donation of 750,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Tsai calls the donation “timely rain” for the island, but experts say it is highly unusual for the senators to arrive on a military plane.

In August 2020, nationalist state media tabloid Global Times said in an editorial that the “time would be mature for Beijing to strike the island once a US military plane lands in Taiwan”.