In a move that will infuriate China, the US prez Joe Biden-led American administration has invited Taiwan to its ‘Summit for Democracy' next month. According to a list of participants published by the US administration, the move is likely to further widen the differences between the two countries.
The first-of-its-kind gathering is a test of President Joe Biden's assertion, announced in his first foreign policy address in office in February, that he would return the United States to global leadership to face down authoritarian forces led by China and Russia.
At present, there are about 110 participants on the US State Department's invitation list for the virtual event slated to begin from December 9 and 10. The program aims to help stop democratic backsliding and the erosion of rights and freedoms worldwide. The list does not include China or Russia.
The invite for Taiwan comes as China has stepped up pressure on countries to downgrade or sever relations with the island, which is considered by Beijing to have no right to the trappings of a state. Self-ruling Taiwan says Beijing has no right to speak for it.
Meanwhile, sharp differences over Taiwan persisted during a virtual meeting earlier this month between Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping. While Biden reiterated longstanding US support for the ‘One China' policy under which it officially recognizes Beijing rather than Taipei, he also said he “strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the White House said.
Xi said that those in Taiwan who seek independence, and their supporters in the United States, were “playing with fire.” Rights groups meanwhile, questioned if Biden's Summit for Democracy can push those world leaders who are invited, some accused of harbouring authoritarian tendencies, to take meaningful action.
The State Department list shows the event will bring together mature democracies such as France and Sweden but also countries such as the Philippines, India, and Poland, where activists say democracy is under threat.
In Asia, some US allies including Japan and South Korea were invited, while others like Thailand and Vietnam were not. Other notable absentees were US allies Egypt and NATO member Turkey. Representation from the Middle East will be slim, with Israel and Iraq the only two countries invited.
