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Taiwan’s most senior representative in the United States, Bi-khim Hsiao, has attributed China’s aggressive stance as the main driver of closer relations between the two governments.

The more they bully, the more we need friends

Hsiao, who's Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the U.S., in an interview with American political news outlet The Hill, said that China’s aggressive response to U.S. legislators visiting the island, far from driving a wedge between the two countries, only encouraged further visits.

As a “victim" of China's "bullying”, Hsiao said Taiwan is not going to tell others that it doesn't want friends or to stop visiting them.

"The more they bully us, the more we need friends.”

She also said Taiwan won't be silenced by sanctions China has slapped on Taiwanese officials, including herself.

Hsiao’s comments were in reference to the largest ever live-fire exercises conducted by China in the waters around Taiwan, in response to a visit by U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

China’s exercises brought aircraft over the unofficial median line bisecting the Taiwan Strait and naval ships operating on the eastern side of the island.

China also launched ballistic missiles over the island itself -- of the five ballistic missiles that landed in Japan's exclusive economic zone, four were believed to have flown over Taiwan, Japan's defence ministry said.

On Aug. 4, Japan’s Ministry of Defense announced that China had launched nine ballistic missiles into the waters surrounding Japan and Taiwan. Five of them landed in Japan’s EEZ. pic.twitter.com/cCyCGAPFbo

— Japan Embassy Defense Section DC (@JapanEmbDCDef) August 4, 2022

While exercises have reduced, China has not entirely stopped them, in a bid to keep up pressure on the island that it considers a rogue province.

China’s military pressure was described by Hsiao as “provocative, reckless, and irresponsible”. But they were also counterproductive, as both Taiwan and those friendly to it were prompted to more openly express solidarity, she opined.

“They are the ones that are stirring up a lot of attention and they are also, ironically, promoting greater sympathy and interest in visiting Taiwan from the international community, and China needs to be held accountable for their own behaviour.”

The U.S., for its part, insists that it remains committed to its "one China" policy, and that there has been no change in its Taiwan policy.

U.S. congressional visits to Taiwan already a thing

Pelosi’s visit is not the first visit by a Speaker of the House, who is the most senior U.S. legislator and second in the line of succession in the U.S. government. Then U.S. Speaker Newt Gingrich visited 25 years ago.

The U.S. congress is considered a co-equal branch of government in the U.S. system, and the president does not have direct control over where its members go or who they meet with.

Hsiao, in an interview with Face the Nation, a U.S. political news show, elaborated that China had no reason to be “so furious” as Taiwan has always hosted numerous U.S. delegations since the past. In fact, in 2022 alone, there have already been 10 visits by U.S. congressional delegations to Taiwan, but barring Pelosi's visit, they had taken place with little public attention, U.S. State Department spokesperson Ned Price said.

&ab_channel=FacetheNation

One example is the visit in 2016 by the late U.S. Senator John McCain, who met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen. He also apparently took the time to go visit Din Tai Fung’s original restaurant.

Great meeting with President Tsai of Taiwan - the only democracy on Chinese soil. Our friendship remains strong. pic.twitter.com/aADp0ez9Pi

— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) June 5, 2016

Two U.S. legislative delegations visited Taiwan last year, and the two governments have been famously close for several decades.

U.S.-Taiwan relations have gotten even closer over the years, a beneficiary of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s more hawkish stance on China. In the dying days of Trump's presidency, then-Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lifted restrictions on contacts between U.S. and Taiwanese officials.

This has led to what might be said to be the high point of U.S.-Taiwan relations, and also the likely reason for Hsiao's several recent media interviews.

On Aug. 17, the U.S. and Taiwan formally started negotiations on the U.S.-Taiwan Initiative on 21st Century Trade.

The negotiations aims to deepen the trading and investment relationship in 11 trade areas, as well as helping “build a fairer, more prosperous and resilient 21st century economy”.

China, predictably, voiced its opposition to the negotiations, saying that the negotiations would encourage “Taiwan separatists”. Chinese trade officials also said that the negotiation mandate would not generate more investment or trade opportunities.

G20's November meetings

U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping spoke on the phone early in August, prior to Pelosi’s visit. Xi warned against the visit, but the call still attempted to manage bilateral relations, if not improve it.

The end of the call appears to have set the stage for an in-person meeting to take place in the future, which would be the first since Biden became president in 2021.

It has been suggested that Biden and Xi could meet on the sidelines of the G20 grouping’s meeting, to be hosted in Bali by Indonesia in November 2022.

Xi is likely to attend the gathering, which would represent the first foreign trip he has made in over two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. According to Reuters, Indonesian President Joko Widodo said that Xi had given him assurances, along with Russian president Vladimir Putin. Widodo met both Xi and Putin in July in Beijing and Moscow respectively.

Widodo also visited Ukraine and met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, inviting him to attend the Bali summit.

Such a potential meeting, if executed, could be a diplomatic achievement for Widodo, as it would bring together the most important players directly or indirectly involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and would be the first opportunity for diplomatic interaction since the war started in February 2022.

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Top image via @bikhim/Twitter and @JapanEmbDCDef/Twitter