By Orange Wang
US President Donald Trump鈥檚 stance on Taiwan will be pivotal to the success of a long-awaited potential next visit to Beijing, according to a prominent Chinese scholar.
When he is in China, Trump 鈥渟hould say very clearly that the US does not support Taiwan independence鈥, said Wu Xinbo, dean of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, who added it would not be new for a US president to say that.
Wu said that the national security teams from both Washington and Beijing should meet face-to-face as soon as possible to pave the way for a summit.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the United States, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
Still, the US State Department in February removed a phrase on its official website that the country does not support Taiwan independence, describing the change as a 鈥渞outine鈥 update.
鈥淭rump has to clarify the US position on this very important issue when he comes to China. Without that, I don鈥檛 think his visit will be successful,鈥 Wu said on Friday during Tsinghua University鈥檚 World Peace Forum in Beijing, jointly organised with the Chinese People鈥檚 Institute of Foreign Affairs.
He also said that if Washington did not want to go to war with mainland China over Taiwan, the American leader should stress that the US supported China鈥檚 peaceful reunification.
鈥淭hink about the future of the Taiwan issue, either reunification by the use of force or by peaceful means, what would you prefer? Peaceful unification is in the interests of all sides,鈥 he said.
鈥淭rump is a smart guy. He knows how to make a big deal for the sake of US national interests. He will say the right thing when he is in Beijing.鈥
Wu made the remarks as tension continued to simmer between the world鈥檚 two largest economies, which have recently stepped up efforts to reach a truce in their trade war.
Both sides were 鈥渋ntensively鈥 working to turn the framework on trade reached during their talks in London last month into action, the Chinese Commerce Ministry said on Friday.
American officials have informed their Chinese counterparts that a series of restrictive measures on Chinese goods will be lifted, while Beijing is reviewing and approving qualified applications for exports of controlled items to the US, according to the ministry.
Chinese Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Ma Zhaoxu met with the top US envoy to China, David Perdue, during Independence Day celebrations at the US embassy on Thursday to discuss bilateral relations. Meanwhile, a long-awaited meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart has yet to be confirmed.
During a phone conversation last month, the two leaders exchanged invitations to visit each other鈥檚 countries and also discussed Taiwan and the troubled US-China trading relationship.
Wu said he had seen 鈥減ositive signs鈥 that both Beijing and Washington had 鈥済ot the ball rolling鈥.
鈥淲hat we need to do is not only keep delivering on trade and economic issues, but also let the national security teams from both sides reconnect,鈥 he said.
鈥淚 think now it is time for [Chinese Foreign] Minister Wang Yi to meet his counterpart, maybe in [a third-party] place,鈥 Wu said, adding that law enforcement agencies from both countries should start dialogue on fentanyl.
Wu said he expected that an Apec summit in South Korea later this year would provide a potential window for a visit to China by Trump.
鈥淚f we are going to make this happen, we need to make preparations as soon as possible and time is running out,鈥 he said.
鈥淵ou cannot just let two economic teams arrange the state visit or the summit. That is impossible.鈥
Wu added that the two countries should make progress at this stage on trade, on the fentanyl issue and on contacts between the nations鈥 national security and diplomatic teams.
鈥淭hen we can start to prepare for the summit,鈥 he said.