An international forum for policymakers, academics, and journalists, organized by the Turkish national broadcaster TRT World, wrapped up on Saturday in Istanbul. The two-day TRT World Forum focused on many global issues across a number of roundtable sessions.
One of the invited academics was Professor Tsai Chung-min from Taiwan’s National Chengchi University. He says the forum signifies Turkey’s shift towards Asia. The country sits on two continents, but has not historically focused on Asian issues like the Taiwan Strait.
One of the roundtable discussions on Saturday, called “The United States, China, and Taiwan: Strategic Ambiguity or Incoherence?”, included the Director of Wilson Center’s South Asia Institute Michael Kugelman and Denver University Center for China-US Cooperation’s Professor Suisheng Zhao.
Kugelman says the US’ policy of strategic ambiguity began changing with President Joe Biden’s pledges to come to Taiwan’s aid in the event of a Chinese invasion. He says US arms sales to Taiwan also reflect the country’s international policy. Kugelman adds that the possibility of US-China dialogue is much higher than between Taiwan and China.
Zhao says that from the Chinese perspective, the US is not a reliable factor in Taiwan’s defense. He adds, however, that the US government is sending a strong message and is trying to boost Taiwan’s defensive capabilities in various ways. Zhao also says there is no clear timetable for a possible Chinese attack on Taiwan, but annexing Taiwan has been included in Xi Jinping’s China Dream set of future policy goals.