Secret US-Taiwan Talks in Alaska Amid Stalled Summit with China

Strategic Insights -

US and Taiwanese officials held secretive talks in Alaska last week, a month after a high-profile meeting was cancelled due to concerns of derailing a summit between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. The talks were kept low-key with a smaller US team due to scheduling constraints, but they highlight the complexities in US-China relations. The meeting comes as trade negotiations between the two nations are ongoing, with both sides aiming for a trade deal and a possible summit in October.

Key Takeaways:

  • US and Taiwanese officials held secret talks in Alaska last week, attended by Jed Royal, the Pentagon's top Indo-Pacific official, and Hsu Szu-chien, Taiwan's deputy national security adviser.
  • The talks were deliberately kept low-key to avoid drawing attention, with one US official stating that the decision to meet in Alaska was an attempt to minimize the profile of the talks.
  • The US-Taiwan relations have been strained due to Trump's apparent personal disregard for Taiwan and his influence on US foreign policy, which has unsettled Taipei.
  • The cancelled high-level meeting in June between Taiwan's defence minister and the Pentagon's top defence policy official was seen as an attempt to avoid jeopardizing a Trump-Xi summit.
  • Experts like Bonnie Glaser and Heino Klinck argue that frequent senior-level meetings with Taiwan are critical to the US national interest, particularly when juxtaposed with China's military parade in Tiananmen Square.
  • The trade negotiations between the US and China are ongoing, with both sides aiming for a trade deal and a possible summit in October.

Statistics:

  • The talks in Alaska took place just one month after Trump held a summit in Anchorage with Russia's President Vladimir Putin.
  • The Trump administration cancelled a high-level meeting in June between Taiwan's defence minister and the Pentagon's top defence policy official.
  • The negotiations between the US and China report that the Trump administration may be trying to thread the needle between assuring Taiwan and keeping the possibility of a trade deal and summit with China alive.
  • The US officials reportedly told Taipei that the cancellation of the June meeting was related to Taiwan's military strikes on Iran.
  • Both the Pentagon and Taipei declined to comment on the Alaska meeting.

Sources:

  • "US and Taiwanese defence officials held secret talks in Alaska last week, days before Xi Jinping flaunted China's military might to the world at a parade attended by fellow strongmen." - The New York Times
  • "The Trump administration cancelled a high-level meeting in June between Taiwan's defence minister and the Pentagon's top defence policy official, telling Taipei the move was related to its military strikes on Iran." - The Financial Times
  • "China director at Eurasia Group, Amanda Hsiao, said: 'The Trump administration may be trying to thread the needle between assuring Taiwan and keeping the possibility of a trade deal and summit with China alive.'" - The Financial Times
  • "Bonnie Glaser, a Taiwan expert at the German Marshall Fund, said: 'The downgrading of the US-Taiwan defence talks provides further evidence that Trump has probably instructed his cabinet officials not to do anything that would undermine negotiations with China that are aimed at securing a trade deal and a summit with Xi Jinping.'" - The New York Times
  • "Heino Klinck, an Asia security expert who served as top defence official for Taiwan in Trump's first administration, said frequent senior-level meetings with Taiwan were critical to the US national interest." - The Financial Times