The second meeting between Sichuan and Xi has come to an end. Shen Youzhong, deputy chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, said at a symposium on "US-China-Taiwan Relations after Xi Jinping's visit to the United States" on the 27th that the development of the situation between the United States, China and Taiwan still maintains "three changes"; in response to the Beijing authorities' deliberate use of the Sichuan-Xi meeting to distort the history of World War II , strengthening cognitive warfare, the government also predicts that in the future, the CCP will continue to use different opportunities to spread "suspicion of the United States" and "abandonment of Taiwan", or spread an atmosphere of "the United States and China's common narrative of World War II", and does not rule out indirectly affecting Taiwan's upcoming local elections in November.
Shen Youzhong pointed out that the "three changes" between the United States, China and Taiwan include "the structure of the strategic competition between the United States and China remains unchanged", "the US policy towards Taiwan remains unchanged", and "the stance of Taiwan, the United States and the international community to jointly maintain the peaceful status quo across the Taiwan Strait remains unchanged".
Shen Youzhong said that as far as the competition structure between the United States and China remains unchanged, although this "Sichuan-Xi meeting" has a high-level pomp and reception, the specific breakthroughs currently announced by both sides are quite limited. The two sides have not made breakthrough progress on issues such as AI, rare earth control, and technological competition. Although the United States and China are in contact through some dialogue mechanisms, it is estimated that the two sides will continue to "fight without defeat" and the government will continue to pay close attention and respond prudently.
Secondly, the US policy towards Taiwan remains unchanged. Shen Youzhong emphasized that on the Taiwan Strait issue, although China has expressed its consistent position, many US officials, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, reiterated many times before the meeting that the US policy towards Taiwan remains unchanged. A more representative example is David Perdue, the U.S. Ambassador to China, who clearly stated that President Trump has never changed the position of the United States and fully supports the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three U.S.-China Communiqués and the Six Assurances on Taiwan, and emphasized that Taiwan policy will not be affected by the situation in Iran. This shows that the U.S. policy toward Taiwan has not backed down under pressure from China.
Shen Youzhong pointed out that the third is that the position of Taiwan, the United States and the international community to jointly maintain the peaceful status quo across the Taiwan Strait remains unchanged. Many transnational statements or important international discussions have expressed opposition to unilateral changes in the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and reiterated concerns for peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. I believe that the position of the United States and the international community in supporting the peaceful status quo across the Taiwan Strait remains clear and will not change.
Shen Youzhong reiterated that the Beijing authorities deliberately used the Sichuan-Xi meeting to propagate to the United States that "Taiwan independence" endangers "peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," "undermines U.S.-China strategic stability," and even distorts the history of World War II, falsely claiming that the CCP and the United States are allies, and intensifying cognitive warfare against this. The government also predicts that in the future, the CCP will continue to use different opportunities with a number of collaborators to spread "theory of suspicion of the United States" and "theory of abandoning Taiwan," creating an atmosphere of "choosing between peace and war," or spreading the atmosphere of "a common narrative between the United States and China on World War II." It does not rule out the indirect impact on Taiwan’s upcoming local elections in November.
At the end of his speech, Shen Youzhong pointed out that in the face of the CCP's increasing compound pressure on Taiwan in recent years, the government's cross-Strait policy stance is to firmly maintain the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. He also called on the Beijing authorities to abandon the hegemonic mentality of unilaterally and even using force to change the status quo. On the premise of reciprocity and dignity, without presupposing positions, dialogue with our democratically elected government to resolve differences is also the common expectation of the international community. The government will also continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities, deepen communication and cooperation with the United States and other allied countries, and jointly maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the region.
