<p>The 92-year-old businessman who represented Taiwan at the Asia-Pacific leaders’ conference this week in San Francisco voiced optimism on Friday that US President Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping’s meeting will serve to ease tensions in the area and between the two giants.<img decoding=”async” class=”alignnone wp-image-283147″ src=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/theindiaprint.com-download-2023-11-18t155339.755.jpg” alt=”theindiaprint.com download 2023 11 18t155339.755″ width=”993″ height=”561″ title=”Taiwanese Envoy Is Confident That Biden-Xi Talks Will Reduce Tensions Across the Asia-Pacific 6″ srcset=”https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/theindiaprint.com-download-2023-11-18t155339.755.jpg 299w, https://www.theindiaprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/theindiaprint.com-download-2023-11-18t155339.755-150×85.jpg 150w” sizes=”(max-width: 993px) 100vw, 993px” /></p>
<p>Morris Chang, the founder of the massive semiconductor manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, said that dependable supply chains and economic stability can be supported by the conference.</p>
<p>At a press conference held after the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, Chang said, “You don’t have to be a leader to know that if there is no peace, there is no supply chain to start with.”</p>
<p>Chang cited the decision made by Biden and Xi to restore high-level military interactions as evidence that the meeting was “good.”</p>
<p>According to Chang, “it should help reduce tensions between the U.S. and China and increase stability of the Taiwan Strait.”</p>
<p>The most difficult topic in U.S.-China ties is Taiwan, a self-governing island home to 23 million people, since Beijing and Washington disagree about its legitimacy. The island, which Beijing claims to be part of Chinese territory and promises to occupy by force if necessary to achieve national unity, has been the source of increasing military pressure and tensions in recent years.</p>
<p>Washington has strengthened its backing for Taiwan and has a security agreement in place with the island nation to thwart any military assault by Beijing. The United States maintains that a peaceful solution devoid of bias is required.</p>
<p>When Xi and Biden had their first in-person meeting in a year on Wednesday, spending four hours at an estate outside of San Francisco, it was clearly a top focus.</p>
<p>Xi asked Biden to guarantee that the United States will not back Taiwan’s independence and asked Washington to back China’s peaceful reunification with Taiwan.</p>
<p>The Chinese president said, “China will realize reunification, and this is unstoppable.”</p>
<p>In the meanwhile, Biden asked Xi to desist from conducting military drills in the Taiwan Strait.</p>
<p>The Chinese military has been stationing vessels and aircraft close to the island almost every day since September 2020. After Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the House at the time, visited the island in August 2022 over Beijing’s protests, Beijing launched missiles against the island and blockaded it for several days.</p>
<p>Biden informed Xi that Washington’s stance on Taiwan is unchanging and that it is against any unilateral actions by any party to alter the status quo.</p>
<p>“Peaceful means are how we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved,” said Biden.</p>
<p>According to Sun Yun, head of the Stimson Center’s China program in Washington, Beijing’s latest demand that Washington back peaceful reunification will not be granted.</p>
<p>“This is clearly distinct from the U.S. objective, which is that the Taiwan issue must be resolved peacefully; this does not place any limitations on the nature of the resolution; it just requires that it be peaceful,” Sun said. We have noticed that Chinese interlocutors have been making this request a lot lately. The United States is unlikely to accept it.”</p>
<p>Chang attended the conference in San Francisco on behalf of Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, since Beijing was against Tsai’s attendance.</p>
<p>For the seventh time, Chang represented Taiwan at the APEC meeting. He stated that Tsai had given him the mission of demonstrating Taiwan’s commitment to regional peace and prosperity, as well as the island’s willingness to collaborate with its allies to combat climate change, create more resilient supply chains, and close the digital divide.</p>
<p>Chang said, “I think I did it; I did my best to communicate the four messages.”</p>
<p>Although there was no official conversation, Chang claimed to have had “many interactions” with Biden and to have spoken with Biden’s economic advisor, Lael Brainard, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Vice President Kamala Harris.</p>
<p>Chang claimed he did not talk with Xi at the summit, but he did have “serious” discussions on topics including supply chains, economic growth, and regional peace with at least half of the leaders of the region’s 21 countries, including Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.</p>
Taiwanese Envoy Is Confident That Biden-Xi Talks Will Reduce Tensions Across the Asia-Pacific
