US agreed to controversial renaming of top Taiwanese diplomatic agency to pressure China: ...

The renaming over the weekend of Taiwan''s diplomatic agency handling US affairs to the "Taiwan Council for US Affairs" is a way for the Trump administration to strengthen its pressure on Beijing during the US-China trade war, a scholar says. Even though the Taiwan government ostensibly made the name change, US consent was critical. China insists that Taiwan is part of its territory and tends to get upset when foreign nations use the word "Taiwan," which implies it''s a separate state. The step to rename the “Coordination Council for North American Affairs” to the “Taiwan Council for US Affairs” was over 40 years in the making. Aside from revealing that Taiwan-US relations have finally and rightfully returned to the original framework of the Taiwan Relations Act, it also signifies the word “Taiwan” can finally be used in official diplomatic titles. Chen Li-fuTaiwan Thinktank researcherThis is of course a part of US international strategy to put pressure on China. Taiwan has been a beneficiary of the US-China trade war . After President Donald Trump took office, he promoted many measures friendly to Taiwan: from 2017’s “Taiwan Travel Act” and the “National Defense Authorization Act” to last year’s Asia Reassurance Initiative Act of 2018. By May this year, Congress had introduced more laws promoting Taiwan’s participation in international organizations and a succession of measures constraining China. Chen Li-fuTaiwan Thinktank researcherSupporters of other presidential candidate have argued that Tsai has been too weak in the areas of foreign affairs or Taiwan-Japan relations, or in particular, Taiwan-US relations. Therefore these results are tantamount to the US government or the Trump administration assisting with her campaign. Two years ago, Japan and Taiwan changed the names of their de facto embassies. Japan’s Interchange Association, Japan was renamed the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association, while Taiwan’s Association of East Asian Relations was renamed the Association of Taiwan-Japan relations.