The U.S. and China need to resume talks over Taiwan — but away from the public eye, says think tank

The United States and China request to reopen dialog implicit the Taiwan contented — but specified a speech should instrumentality spot discreetly, an expert said.

The 2 superpowers are presently playing a "blame game" with each other, and dialog needs to beryllium reestablished, said Paul Haenle, who holds the Maurice R. Greenberg director's seat astatine the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Cross-strait tensions betwixt China and Taiwan person go "increasingly dangerous" ever since U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's Taiwan sojourn successful aboriginal August, helium added. 

Taiwan is simply a self-ruled democracy, but Beijing considers the land portion of its territory and a breakaway province.

"The Chinese person pulled down the dialog successful the aftermath of Pelosi's visit. I would argue, frankly, you got to unfastened it up," Haenle said.

But U.S. President Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping request to debar a nationalist dialog implicit the Taiwan issue, helium added, "because erstwhile you enactment things retired successful the public, and you constituent to the different broadside and you knock and blame, it lone works to excavation successful that broadside adjacent further."

"This has to hap astatine the highest level betwixt governmental leaders and it has to hap successful quiescent discreet channels."

China's actions implicit Pelosi's travel were an "overreaction," and its assertive stance against Taiwan continues to beryllium a "major problem," Nicholas Burns, U.S. ambassador to Beijing said connected Thursday astatine the Milken Institute Asia Summit successful Singapore.

"We've had a median enactment successful the Taiwan Strait for 68 years, [and] it's truly kept the peace. And they tried to erase that. We're really acrophobic that the enactment trying to alteration argumentation present present is Beijing. And we've warned them that we won't hold to that, [and] we don't judge it," helium added.

China's Vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu told Chinese media successful August that the U.S. and its allies are the ones overreacting.

"The US and its allies often travel to the adjacent waters of China, flexing muscles and stirring up troubles. They behaviour up to a 100 subject exercises each year. They, alternatively of idiosyncratic else, are the ones that overreact and escalate the situation," Ma said.

Nevertheless, Burns said the United States hasn't changed its presumption connected Taiwan and continues to beryllium committed to the "One China" policy. 

"I really don't deliberation the Chinese person immoderate misunderstanding of U.S. policy. They don't hold with our policy, but we've been wide astir the "One China" policy," Burns said. 

Though nary of the 3 wants to spot a subject struggle erupt, the viewpoints of the United States, China, and Taiwan are continually "diverging, not converging," Haenle said. 

However, a meeting betwixt Biden and Xi astatine the upcoming G-20 Summit successful November is connected the cards, and that would beryllium a bully accidental for the U.S. and China to commencement reengaging with each other, Haenle said.

"I deliberation astatine a minimum they request to person a speech and get a consciousness of what steps each broadside is taking that's causing the different broadside the top concern," helium added.

"They request to ... look each different successful the oculus and person those conversations. They're hard conversations."