Valuing trade with Taiwan does not compromise relations with China

Feb 07, 2021 Letters

DEAR EDITOR,

Regarding your news report (Feb. 5) and commentaries (Feb 6) on trade agreement with Taiwan, on Thursday morning I received phone calls from friends on my views of Wednesday’s announcement of an agreement for the establishment of a Taiwan trade office in Guyana. Having done a doctorate in International Relations and specifically studied and taught courses on the China-Taiwan dispute, I was taken aback by the Guyana government’s announcement of a Taiwan trade office, given Guyana’s official ‘one China policy’ and deep trade links with the mainland. Nevertheless, I welcomed the establishment of such an office to bolster trade with Taiwan, which can provide funding for the transformation of Guyana and also purchase our products.
Anyone who studies foreign policy would be able to figure out what led to such a trade agreement between Guyana and Taiwan. I saw no harm in relations with China in trading with Taiwan or encouraging Taiwanese to invest in Guyana. I saw the Guyana government announcement in the context of Guyana deepening its relations with the US and Western democracies and our country’s own geo-strategic interests – America is the guarantor of democracy in Guyana. It installs and removes governments.
Last Wednesday, the international wire, Yahoo News, carried reports that President Biden would visit the State Department on Thursday for a major policy announcement on China and the dispute with Taiwan. China was rattling the swords on closer Taiwan-US relations and threatened invasion were Taiwan to declare independence. The US would not sit by idly and allow Taiwan, a long-term ally, to be bullied or invaded. The US flexed its muscles immediately. President Biden redirected two US aircraft carriers in the Taiwan Straits. Some African and Middle Eastern countries also announced linkages or trade relations with Taiwan in recent weeks – would not have come about without some US nodding. The US “is upping” the pressure on China, which recently began pursuing an activist foreign policy and naval presence in waterways dominated by the US. The US President does not routinely visit the State Department; his visit would have important implication. It was a major China policy announcement by the US Administration. Biden would continue the Trump policy of cementing the alliance with India, Australia and Japan to contain China’s rising ambition in the greater Pacific and Indian Ocean areas.
On Thursday evening, the government cancelled (reversed) the planned agreement of the Taiwan trade office, calling it “a mistake.” The phone calls came in again for my view on the policy reversal. Having made the agreement, there was no need to reverse course. Taiwan is a developed nation. It is the largest investor in China – has been so over the last twenty years with tens of billions in American dollars invested annually all over China. If Taiwan can invest in China without any problems, there is no harm done in Guyana trading with Taiwan. At any rate, since China considers Taiwan as part of its territory, a renegade province, should the Taiwan treaty not been seen as a trade agreement with China? Trade with Taiwan should not lessen relations with China. I should note that Taiwan lost its status as a sovereign entity in 1971 when the US and UN recognized China as the representative of all of China. Since the 1990s, Taiwan has not challenged the legitimacy of China as the representative of all of China although it still sees itself as a separate state from the mainland.
It is critical for Guyana to choose allies wisely. A country must have permanent interests’ not necessarily permanent allies. If there is one thing I learnt in my studies on foreign policy and strategic interests, Guyana must not get on the wrong side of the US. We remember all too well what happened in 1953, 1964, 2015, and 2020. Governments paid dearly for crossing with the US. Also, there are more Guyanese and their children living in America than in Guyana; they value close relations with America. Cementing ties with the US and opening trade links with Taiwan would not compromise our recognition of China as the representative of all of China or our “one China” policy.

Yours truly,
Dr. Vishnu Bisram

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News