Joe Biden invited Taiwan to a virtual summit on democracy along with more than 100 countries (File)
Washington:
Joe Biden has invited Taiwan to a virtual summit on democracy alongside more than 100 countries – a move sure to anger China, which is not on the list.
The conference was a campaign pledge of the President of the United States, who has made the struggle between democracies and “autocratic governments” central to his foreign policy.
The “Summit for Democracy” will take place online on December 9 and 10 ahead of a face-to-face meeting at the second edition next year.
The meeting has long been advertised, but the guest list – published Tuesday on the State Department’s website – will be scrutinized.
Not surprisingly, America’s main rivals China and Russia are not on this list.
But the United States invited Taiwan, which is not recognized as an independent country but maintains as a model democracy.
China opposes any use of the word “Taiwan” to give a sense of international legitimacy to the self-governing democratic island, which Beijing claims as part of its territory and has vowed to one day seize – by force if necessary.
The US move is guaranteed to increase tensions between the two superpowers.
“I agree Taiwan more than qualifies – but it seems () the only democratic government invited that the US government doesn’t officially recognize. So bringing Taiwan in is a big deal. ,” Julian Ku, a law professor at Hofstra University whose expertise includes China.
Democracy in decline
Turkey, a NATO ally of the United States that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has dubbed an “autocrat” by Biden, did not make the list.
In the Middle East, only Israel and Iraq were invited. America’s traditional Arab allies – Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates – are absent.
Biden also invited Brazil, which is led by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.
In Europe, Poland is the representative, despite renewed tensions with Brussels over respect for the rule of law, but far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary is not.
On the African side, invite the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Niger.
“For this Kick-off Summit… there’s a case for attracting multiple actors into the room: it provides for a better exchange of opinions than it does setting a perfect standard for qualifications. “, Laleh Ispahani of the Open Society Foundation told AFP.
Instead of using the summit as an anti-China meeting, Ispahani called on Biden to address “the severe decline of democracy around the world – including those with relatively robust models like the US. “
This summit is being held because democracy is failing in the countries where America has high hopes.
Sudan and Myanmar have experienced military coups, Ethiopia is in the midst of a conflict that could lead to an “outbreak”, according to US diplomats, and the Taliban took power in Afghanistan after the US withdrawal. two decades.
