A high-ranking consultant for the campaign of US President-elect Joe Biden says that the US should both pursue closer ties with Taiwan and peace in the Taiwan Strait.
Kurt Campbell is a former US State Department official who has advised the Biden campaign. He was speaking during a forum on the future of US-Taiwan ties held Thursday by Washington think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Campbell said that for US administrations, reaffirming the existing basis of US-Taiwan ties—the Taiwan Relations Act and Six Assurances—does not go far enough. He said that the US should look for opportunities to expand exchanges with Taiwan, raise Taiwan’s international position, and strengthen interaction in the areas of trade and technology.
At the same time, Campbell said that the US should open and encourage cross-strait dialogue, as effective, calm dialogue is in the interests of all sides. He said he hopes the US will build a constructive relationship with China in some areas while at the same time developing constructive ties with Taiwan.