Taiwan | In US, presidency candidate criticizes rival on mainland relations

Taiwan’s ruling Nationalist Party chairman and presidential candidate in the 2016 elections, Eric Chu

The ruling party candidate in Taiwan’s upcoming presidential election hinted Friday that there’s an increased risk of war with China if his main opponent wins.
Eric Chu’s remarks in a Washington Times commentary, which angered the opposition, came as he made an otherwise low-profile U.S. visit ahead of the January election. He met senior U.S. officials Thursday.
“Any declaration by Taiwan to separate itself legally and permanently from China will be viewed by China as a violation of Chinese territorial integrity, hence incurring war,” Chu wrote.
He is the candidate for the ruling Nationalist Party, which has forged economic agreements with mainland China, easing tensions across the Taiwan Strait. That culminated in a historic meeting last weekend between current president of the self-governing island, Ma Ying-jeou, and the president of the mainland, Xi Jinping.
But Ma’s rapprochement with Beijing has gotten a mixed reception in Taiwan, and Chu is badly trailing in the polls to Tsai Ing-wen, whose opposition party has traditionally advocated for independence.
Her Democratic Progressive Party, or DPP, has moderated its stance, and when Tsai visited Washington in June, she said she wanted to maintain the status quo in Taiwan-China relations. But she still refuses to endorse the principle of there being only one China. Beijing has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since the Chinese civil war of the 1940s.
Chu said that the DPP was offering the policy goal of maintaining the “status quo” that had been by Ma, but was “shirking the responsibility of providing a workable formula” to achieve it, according to a copy of his prepared remarks for a private appearance at a Washington think tank Friday.
The DPP quickly accused Chu of diplomatic impropriety and distorting its policy position.
“Mr. Chu would be well advised to follow professional diplomatic policy, standard for any serious politician, to not bring domestic differences over foreign policy beyond one’s country’s shores. Perhaps Mr. Chu is not ready for prime time yet,” said Michael Fonte, director of the DPP mission in Washington.
The U.S. has welcomed improved cross-Straits relations, but is being careful not to take sides in the Taiwan elections. The U.S. recognizes Beijing as the government of China but retains robust unofficial relations with Taipei and has legal commitments to help Taiwan maintain the ability to defend itself.
Visits to Washington by Taiwanese officials and politicians are diplomatically sensitive. Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, who met with Chu, said that both presidential candidates had been granted the same level of access. He said discussions focused on policy, including on how stability across the Taiwan Strait can be sustained.
“We don’t play favorites,” he told reporters. “It’s for the voters on Taiwan to decide who their favorite is.”
Unlike Tsai, Chu has had not made a public policy address in Washington. In brief comments to reporters Friday, he stressed the importance of U.S.-Taiwan relations. Matthew Pennington, Washington, AP