Last Friday, <person>Richard Bush</person> wrote an article for the Brookings Institution arguing against the suggestion that Taiwanese President <person>Tsai Ing-wen</person> should be invited to address the U.S. congress.

His article was in response to a joint letter written to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, <person>Nancy Pelosi</person> by five US senators. The signatories to the letter were <person>Cory Gardner</person>, <person>Marco Rubio</person>, <person>Tom Cotton</person>, <person>John Cornyn</person>, and <person>Ted Cruz</person>, all Republican’s and all on record as being staunch critics of communist China and strong supporters of democratic Taiwan.

The crux of the argument made by the five enators is that such a visit would be consistent with U.S. law thanks to the recently passed Taiwan travel act which permits senior governmental visits. They also said it would be just reward for one of America’s closest allies in the region.

It is difficult to disagree with thess main points, although most people would readily acknowledge that the situation is quite complicated. Perhaps the senators are thinking about things more from the United States point of view than from Taiwan’s.

<person>Bush</person>’s rebuttal: U.S. – China relations

This is certainly the view of <person>Richard Bush</person>, whose article is forthright in its condemnation of the idea. But his argument is far from watertight. It is built around three key reasons.

Firstly, he argues that, despite the Taiwan Travel Act, such a visit would be “contrary to a fundamental principle of U.S. relations with China” which is that all relations with Taiwan would be unofficial. He predicts that if the U.S. breaches this principle, there would be serious consequences from the Chinese regime.

But as the letter from the five senator’s rightly says, a visit by President <person>Tsai</person> to the U.S. Congress is now legal under the terms of the Taiwan Travel Act. That means this "fundamental principle," as he calls it, has already been breached. U.S. law now allows for official high-level visits from Taiwan. It is irrelevant when they happen and who visits really. The United States has chosen to change its position on this issue, something which the government is absolutely entitled to do.

Would there be consequences for the U.S. from China if such a visit took place. Possibly, but the current trade war is already stretching China to the limit. There are not too many more economic aces left up <person>Xi Jinping</person>’s sleeve. There would be howls of indignation from Beijing no doubt, but it is highly debatable whether China is capable of having the sort of negative effect on the U.S.A. that <person>Richard Bush</person> suggests.