Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian made a brief visit to New York City last weekend. Ostensibly, Mr. Chen was traveling via the United States, on his way to Panama. It was not the sort of transit most international passengers enjoy. His took a couple of days, during which he received an award, made a speech, and met some U.S. dignitaries. Any such stopover risks China's ire, but this time Beijing's reaction was subdued. That reaction reveals a lot about the changing dynamic in cross-Strait relations -- and the trilateral relationship between Beijing, Taipei and Washington D.C.
Taiwan is, in China's eyes, a "renegade province," and Beijing demands that other governments deny it diplomatic recognition. Today, only 26 countries, Panama among them, recognize Taiwan. The U.S., like Japan, has a "one China" policy -- there is only one China, and Taiwan is part of it -- but Washington has maintained strong diplomatic, economic and, significantly, defense ties since recognizing Beijing as the capital of China in 1979.
Although the U.S. has remained committed to Taiwan's defense, successive Taiwanese administrations have worked to strengthen links to the U.S. since 1979. Symbolic gestures take on considerable significance in this effort. So, Taiwanese officials try at every chance to visit the U.S., especially Washington, to meet ranking U.S. officials and raise the island's profile. The easiest way to do that is the fiction of transit visas, which allow a Taiwanese official to pass through the country and invariably make a speech or collect some award from supporters in the U.S.