Beijing may look for positives over US stance on Taiwan
- According to Beijing’s account of a conversation between Antony Blinken and Wang Yi, the US Secretary of State said Washington ‘opposed’ the island’s independence
- Chinese diplomatic analysts say this could be a subtle shift in the US position, which would be seen favourably by Beijing
It also said Blinken had said Washington opposed Taiwanese independence – language that did not appear in the US readout.
“My understanding is that the traditional American statement is that the United States does not support Taiwan independence, but this is new to me that the United States opposes Taiwan independence,” Wang Jisi, an international relations professor at Peking University, told a discussion in Washington on Tuesday.
“I think this is a positive development that the US reiterates its position not to change the status quo,” Wang told the event at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
China’s claim that Blinken said the US “opposes” Taiwanese independence also marks a departure in the way China has described comments from the US in previous conversations. The US State Department has been asked for comment.