Taipei sacrificing residents' interests in initiative with US

The United States and Taiwan authorities signed the first part of the "US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade" on June 1. The following day, Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen said the agreement is the most comprehensive trade pact since Washington's "diplomatic break" with Taiwan in 1979.

However, the reality is quite different. The so-called US-Taiwan initiative consists of 12 topics, and the initial batch of five topics covered in the agreement is hollow and limited in terms of benefits. It fails to address core issues such as "market access" and "tariff reduction". Since the initiative is essentially a joint political move by cunning US politicians and Taiwan leaders, it offers little substantive benefits to the island's residents.

First, the "US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade" appears to be a new US strategy to target Beijing using Taiwan as a pawn. The US has long been using Taiwan as a chess piece in its efforts to contain the Chinese mainland's growth.

This makes it clear the US is desperate to check China's peaceful rise because it fears China would threaten its global status and the benefits it has enjoyed as the world's sole superpower since the end of the Cold War.

Washington has begun triggering one dispute after another to prevent Beijing from focusing on economic growth. And it has been using the Taiwan question as a trump card to check the mainland's development, something Taiwan compatriots should prevent the US from doing.

The mainland has always attached due importance to the Taiwan island's economic development. According to the island's data, the islands' exports to the mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region in the first five months of this year added up to $59.81 billion, while its exports to the US was only $27.25 billion, indicating that the mainland has been playing a key role in Taiwan's development.

Machinery and electrical equipment account for a big chunk of the island's exports to the mainland and the US. According to the island's figures, in the first five months, the exports value of machinery and electrical equipment to the mainland and the Hong Kong SAR was $45.96 billion, 2.7 times of its exports to the US, which was worth $17.16 billion. Data speak louder than all the belligerent US rhetoric put together, and data show that the mainland plays a much bigger role in the island's economic growth.

Second, the so-called US-Taiwan initiative will further intensify cross-Strait tensions and thus harm the economic interests of Taiwan residents. But the island's ruling Democratic Progressive Party has never hesitated to sacrifice the interests of Taiwan businesses and residents in order to claim it has made big "achievements" by working with the US.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has strongly opposed any agreements with sovereign implications or official in nature between the US and Taiwan. This should prompt the Taiwan authorities to recognize, based on concrete cross-Strait trade data, that obstinacy and unilateral actions will cause significant damage to the island's economy.

Let's take another set of data from the Taiwan authorities. From January to May 2022, the island's exports to the mainland and Hong Kong amounted to $81.61 billion, while those to the US added up to only $31.21 billion. In year-on-year terms, the island's exports to the mainland decreased by $21.80 billion, and to the US by $3.96 billion.

The decrease in exports to the mainland was 5.5 times higher than those to the US because cross-Strait relations have been further strained and two-way trade has declined drastically after Nancy Pelosi, then US House speaker, visited Taiwan in August last year. If the Taiwan authorities persist with their obstinate approach, they will continue to harm the economic interests of Taiwan residents.

And third, the "US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade" will worsen Sino-US relations, too. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has emphasized Taiwan is an indivisible part of Chinese territory, and Beijing firmly opposes any form of official exchanges between any sovereign state and Taiwan. The ministry also urged the US to abide by the one-China principle and the provisions of the three Sino-US joint communiques, and handle Taiwan-related economic and trade issues with caution.

The decline in Sino-US trade is largely a consequence of the deteriorating bilateral relations. Data from the General Administration of Customs show that in the first five months of this year, the total value of Sino-US trade was 1.89 trillion yuan ($264.17 billion), down 5.5 percent year-on-year. This differs significantly from the overall growth of China's foreign trade — up 4.7 percent — during the same period.

Also, China's exports to the US declined by 8.5 percent to 1.38 trillion yuan. Yet that does not imply decoupling of Sino-US relations, as consumer behavior and business development are influenced by political decisions. Recent times have seen several high-profile executives of US companies, including Tesla's CEO Elon Musk, making frequent visits to the mainland, indicating an increased focus on the mainland market and the ineffectiveness of US politicians' moves to destabilize Sino-US ties.

The so-called US-Taiwan initiative reveals the ambitions of US politicians to undermine the one-China principle. But the US and its politicians have to accept the inevitability of the reunification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Abandoning the so-called US-Taiwan initiative is therefore the best and wisest choice for both US politicians and the Taiwan authorities.

The author is head of the Institute of Taiwan Economics, Central University of Finance and Economics.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.