Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently returned from a trip to Beijing, where he met with senior officials of the government including Chinese President Xi Jinping.
His return was heralded by the Washington Post with the headline, “Blinken ruffles feathers by stating US ‘does not support Taiwan independence’ after meeting China’s Xi.”
The story noted that several Republican Congress persons castigated Blinken for “kowtowing” to China by stating, “the Biden administration does not support Taiwan’s independence.”
This is what Blinken said: “We remain committed to our ‘one China’ policy with the three communiques, the Taiwan Relations Act, the six assurances. We do not support Taiwan’s independence. We’ve made clear that we oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side. We’ve been clear and consistent in our policy, and it’s very important that we preserve the status quo that has helped maintain peace and stability across the strait for decades. So, I reiterated that to our Chinese counterparts. President Biden has also made that repeatedly clear in his engagements with China.”
A U.S. State Department’s fact sheet on relations with Taiwan from May 2022 states:
“The United States approach to Taiwan has remained consistent across decades and administrations. The United States has a longstanding one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances. We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means. We continue to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the United States makes available defense articles and services as necessary to enable Taiwan to maintain a sufficient self-defense capability -– and maintains our capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of Taiwan.”
Blinken merely reiterated official policy that the U.S. government does not support Taiwan independence. It’s a pity that most U.S. citizens do not realize this. It’s a crime that some in Congress don’t realize this.
I hold no brief for Antony Blinken, but it appears that he got this one right. For those of you keeping score, this makes one in a row.
Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:
