Mainland China urged to be ‘realistic’ and open communications with Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party
- Douglas Paal, who once headed the de facto US embassy in Taipei, warned that Beijing’s refusal to talk to the independence-leaning party is counterproductive
- The DPP’s presidential candidate William Lai is the current front runner but has been subject to repeated attacks from Beijing accusing him of being a ‘separatist’
“China cut off communication channels with the DPP when Tsai Ing-wen was elected [as president in 2016] … I think that was an unrealistic stance. I wish China would moderate that stance and be willing to open channels, informal or formal,” said Douglas Paal, the head of the American Institute in Taiwan – the de facto US embassy – between 2002 to 2006.
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“I think it has been counterproductive to everybody’s interest to have cut those channels off the last seven years,” Paal, now an analyst with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank, told a digital seminar hosted by the Centre for Globalisation Hong Kong on Tuesday.
Paal said Hsiao, who helped develop closer ties with Washington before stepping down to stand in the election, would offer strong support to Lai’s campaign.
“She knows the US very well and she communicates with the US extremely well,” he said, but added it was another question whether that would help sway voters.