Tsai may jeopardize US policy

As part of the increased interaction in the run-up to May 20 when Taiwan's leader-elect Tsai Ing-wen is scheduled to take office, US Secretary of State John Kerry reiterated to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a telephone conversation on Monday that the United States' stance remains unchanged and Washington will not support "Taiwan independence".

It is to be hoped the US is as good as its word.

Since its establishment of diplomatic ties with the Chinese mainland, the US has maintained essentially quasi-official political, economic and military relations with Taiwan. Its dual-track foreign policy is aimed at maintaining the "no reunification, no independence" status quo across the Straits and striking a strategic balance between the two sides to the US' advantage.

Concerned that Tsai's predecessor Ma Ying-jeou's policy was too "pro-mainland", the US demonstrated a strong preference for Tsai's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party during the island's election. And Washington not only failed to pressure Tsai into embracing the 1992 Consensus, but also extended her a high-profile reception during her visit to the US.

A recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an influential US think-tank, even proposed the US government demand the Chinese mainland allow Tsai to use "equivocal terms" regarding the 1992 Consensus to show a more flexible attitude toward the island.

Washington's DPP-tilted approach may be because it wants to play the "Taiwan card" against the Chinese mainland in the context of the strategic competition emerging with Beijing in the South China Sea, and its perception that cross-Straits peace would not be sabotaged if Tsai does not directly challenge the one-China principle.

The US undoubtedly underestimates the possibility of DPP pursuing "Taiwan's independence", which risks destroying Washington's skillfully employed "neutral and balanced" policy toward the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.