1.媒體來源:
英國金融時報(Financial Times)
2.記者署名:
Demetri Sevastopulo，華盛頓報導 2024/08/22 11:17pm
3.完整新聞標題:
Taiwan’s top security officials make secret trip to US for talks
台灣高級安全官員秘密訪美進行會談
4.完整新聞內文:
[原文]
Taiwan’s top security officials make secret trip to US for talks
Visit to Washington area this week comes at sensitive time in relations
between Beijing and Taipei
Taiwan’s top foreign policy officials have made a secret trip to the greater
Washington area for talks with the US, the first such visit since President
Lai Ching-te took office in May.
Foreign minister Lin Chia-lung and Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s national security
adviser, have been in the Washington area this week for the talks that are
known as the “special channel”, according to several people familiar with
the visit.
The US and Taiwan have held the “special channel” talks for years, but
their existence was first disclosed by the Financial Times in 2021 when the
two sides, including Wu who was then foreign minister, met in Annapolis,
Maryland. The channel is seen as a rare opportunity for a larger group of
senior officials from both sides to hold detailed talks.
Successive US administrations have kept the channel under wraps to avoid
Chinese criticism of the sensitive engagement. Beijing claims sovereignty
over Taiwan, which has maintained an unofficial relationship with Washington
since the US normalised relations with China in 1979.
The last special channel was in February 2023 when Wu and Wellington Koo,
then national security adviser and now defence minister, met the US side
across the river from Washington in northern Virginia.
Under a long-standing practice, Taiwan’s foreign minister and defence
minister cannot enter the District of Columbia, so the channel has usually
been held in the greater Washington area.
The people familiar with the situation did not disclose the location or the
timing of the discussions.he Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative
Office, the de facto Taiwanese embassy in Washington, declined to comment on
the talks. The White House declined to comment.
The channel comes at a sensitive time as China watches to see how Lai will
handle relations with Beijing and Washington. The Chinese government has
described Lai as a “dangerous separatist” and worries that he is more
likely to take steps towards official independence than his predecessor Tsai
Ing-wen. Some US officials are also privately nervous about Lai, who is
inexperienced in foreign affairs and seen as more unpredictable than Tsai.
Evan Medeiros, a China expert at Georgetown University and former top White
House Asia adviser, said the special channel was “one of the most sensitive
and important mechanisms in global politics today”.
“The meeting comes at a critical time given Taiwan’s recent election. Clear
and consistent communication between Taipei and Washington is essential,
especially as People’s Republic of China pressure grows,” Medeiros added.
The US has grown increasingly concerned about rising Chinese military
activity around Taiwan. China held huge military exercises around the island,
including firing ballistic missiles overhead for the first time, in 2022 just
after then US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei. It has intensified
its military activity since the Pelosi visit.
Randy Schriver, a former top Pentagon Asia official, said the special channel
was always important because of the limited contacts allowed because of the
unofficial relationship”. But he said it was particularly so now given the
increasingly assertive Chinese military activity near Taiwan.
“A lot of people have the impression that [People’s Liberation Army]
military activity spikes around events like the Pelosi visit or
[presidential] inaugurations and then enters a normal and steady status quo,
but the PLA continues to do more things and evolve. We are seeing more
night-time exercises and things like air-air refuelling on the eastern side
of Taiwan,” he said, citing one example.
[以下機翻]
台灣高級安全官員秘密訪美進行會談
本週訪問華盛頓地區的行程，正值北京與台北關係敏感時期
作者：Demetri Sevastopulo，華盛頓報導
台灣最高外交政策官員已秘密訪問大華盛頓地區,與美國進行會談。
這是賴清德總統今年5月上任以來的首次此類訪問。
據多位知情人士透露,台灣外交部長林佳龍和國家安全顧問吳釗燮本週在華盛頓地區參加
了被稱為"特殊管道"的會談。
美國和台灣多年來一直進行"特殊管道"會談,但其存在首次被英國《金融時報》於2021年
披露,當時包括時任外交部長吳釗燮在內的雙方代表在馬里蘭州安納波利斯會面。這一管
道被視為雙方高級官員難得的機會,可以進行詳細討論。
歷屆美國政府都對這一管道保密,以避免引起中國對這種敏感接觸的批評。北京宣稱對台
灣擁有主權,而台灣自1979年美國與中國建交以來一直與華盛頓保持非官方關係。
上一次特殊管道會談是在2023年2月,當時吳釗燮和時任國家安全顧問、現任國防部長的顧
立雄在華盛頓對岸的北弗吉尼亞州與美方會面。
根據長期慣例,台灣的外交部長和國防部長不能進入哥倫比亞特區,所以這一管道的會談通
常在大華盛頓地區舉行。
知情人士並未透露討論的具體地點和時間。台北駐美國經濟文化代表處(實際上是台灣在
華盛頓的大使館)拒絕就會談置評。白宮也拒絕評論。
這次會談正值敏感時期,中國正在觀察賴清德將如何處理與北京和華盛頓的關係。中國政
府將賴清德描述為"危險的分離主義分子",並擔心他比前任蔡英文更有可能採取走向正式
獨立的步驟。一些美國官員私下也對賴清德感到緊張,認為他在外交事務上缺乏經驗,比蔡
英文更難以預測。
喬治城大學中國問題專家、前白宮亞洲事務高級顧問埃文·梅代羅斯表示,"特殊管道是當
今全球政治中最敏感和最重要的機制之一"。
梅代羅斯補充道:"鑑於台灣最近的選舉,這次會議來得正是時候。台北和華盛頓之間清晰
一致的溝通至關重要,尤其是在中華人民共和國施加的壓力不斷增大的情況下。"
美國越來越擔心中國在台灣周邊不斷增加的軍事活動。2022年,在時任美國眾議院議長佩
洛西訪問台北後不久,中國在該島周邊舉行了大規模軍事演習,包括首次在台灣上空發射彈
道導彈。自佩洛西訪台以來,中國加強了軍事活動。
前五角大樓亞洲事務高級官員藍迪·施瑞佛表示,由於非官方關係允許的接觸有限,特殊管
道一直很重要。但他說,鑑於中國軍隊在台灣附近日益強硬的軍事活動,現在這一管道尤其
重要。
施瑞佛說:"許多人認為中國人民解放軍的軍事活動在佩洛西訪問或總統就職等事件前
後會激增,然後回到正常穩定的狀態,但解放軍不斷在做更多事情並不斷演變。我們看到更
多夜間演習,以及在台灣東側進行空中加油等活動。"
5.完整新聞連結 (或短網址)不可用YAHOO、LINE、MSN等轉載媒體:
https://www.ft.com/content/c4c5f7b3-9506-422b-a892-7b89e90a1631