John Bolton urges the US and others to 'consider Taiwan an independent country'
Amid the latest spike in tensions between China and Taiwan, Donald Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton has a characteristically blunt message.
"We ought to be clear to China that we consider Taiwan an independent country … I think the doctrine of strategic ambiguity [towards Taiwan] has served its purpose," he told ABC RN's Between The Lines during a visit to Australia.
"[The US] should exchange full diplomatic recognition, embassies, the whole nine yards, and so should other countries."
Bolton served in top positions for multiple Republican presidents, including as US Ambassador to the United Nations under George W Bush and 17 months with Donald Trump before a well-publicised falling-out.
He's a conservative China hawk and has been outspoken about China's rise in the past.
"It's not Taiwan that's provoking this crisis. It's the determination in China to subjugate Taiwan," he said.
Tense times
China, or the People's Republic of China (PRC), considers Taiwan, or the Republic of China (ROC), to be a breakaway province and has vowed to "unify" the island with the mainland.
Australia's stance is that Taiwan is not a sovereign state and it does not regard the authorities in Taiwan as having the status of a national government. Meanwhile, China is Australia's largest trading partner.
But Bolton advocated a very different approach to Taiwan.
"The fact is, on Taiwan, the people have decided they want to be an independent country. And in terms of their identification over the last 30 years, they see themselves as Taiwanese. They do not see themselves as Chinese."
He said the Taiwanese "don't want a 'one country, two systems' approach [with China]. They want a separate, democratic government — which they have".
"People can say, 'oh, come on, they're all Chinese'. Well, those same people would have to say, 'you people in Australia shouldn't be independent. You're really British'."
Conventional wisdom in the US is that its interests are best served by maintaining a status quo that balances de facto autonomy with formal ambiguity of status for Taiwan.
Tensions between China and Taiwan have recently increased, with a visit to Taiwan by US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, followed by subsequent Chinese military drills around the island.
"I think Pelosi was right to go," Bolton said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-08-28/john-bolton-on-taiwan-china-donald-trump/101377348