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a senior research fellow at the mercatus center. thank you for coming out in the weather. so taiwan recently had a new election, can you explain the stakes, who won, and why it is important? guest: the stakes are always very high because taiwan is a hot issue, increasingly so betweennited states and china. the fact that it is remarkable that taiwan and the taiwanese people have been choosing their leaders for decades now, more than 20 years. that is a remarkable achievement on the side of the taiwanese people. and also that becomes problematic for beijing because being able to choose their leaders is not something that the chinese people have the rights to do. that is what creates a thorny issue between the two. host: who won the election and tell us about them. guest: the new president elect

is from the same party as the current taiwanese president. and the party, the democratic progressive party is more pro-independence, but less inclined to build a closer relationship with the mainland. that is the opposite of the dominant party who has been in power for decades after the world war. the second of -- the sentiments of the island is tipped away from the mainland and closer to the western world. host: the pressure you are talking about, there is a lot of pressure from china -- from china and the taiwanese people to go in a different direction. and they rebuked that. guest: china has an incentive to move the island closer to the mainland for the reason that if beijing feels the need to really force reunification, it will be

easier to do that. and people feel that about the mainland which is now why it is getting harder. what is most interesting is that even the fact of having an election in taiwan is not something even covered in domestic media in china because of the fact that taiwan, the ccp always tries to motivate or rationalize its rule of the country by saying that democracy does not work for the chinese people. it is working for the chinese -- for the taiwanese people and they are very similar. that makes this issue high-stakes and very interesting. host: what was the reaction of the united states and china to the outcome of the election? guest: the reaction from beijing has been the baseline, they would say that taiwan belongs to china and the standard talking

points. but more so to the outside world. the chinese authorities do not talk to the chinese people about elections in taiwan that much. that would emphasize the fact have democracy in taiwan. the reaction is pretty much standard from the u.s.. we did not see the american president callingpresident-elece we had eight years ago. but president biden did come out to say that the united states does not support taiwan's independence which drew criticism and comments from -- in many ways. but, i think it is also unusual for a u.s. president to deliberately have to say that we dowan. that might appear a little weak in the interviews of many who support the taiwanese people's right to have an election and

taiwan is pretty independent. host: it also might be confusing for americans who are not following the issue to hear that the united states is congratulating this pro-democracy president-elect but at the same time does not support taiwanese independence. can you explain in more detail what the u.s. policy is when it comes to taiwan? guest: that is a great question because the u.s. official policy towards taiwan is called a one chinaolicy, which says that the united states recognizes that there is only one china across the taiwan strait. burecognizes that the interpretation of one china is different between the two sides. and then our stances to say you easily, as long as the status quo is capped, we are fine and we are not explicitly saying it either way or supporting it either way.

beijing has something similar but very different. it is the one china principle that says that taiwan belongs to china, mainland china. and i think when u.s. leaders say -- and use the word one china policy, oftentimes it is confusing to the public because it sounds very much like the one china principle that beijing wants to use. host: that is confusing. to your point about the united states wanting to maintain the status quo. antony blinken was at the world economic forum and ridley -- and reacted to the taiwanese election and talks about what it meant for u.s.-china relations. here's a portion of the remarks. [end video clip] -- [video clip] >> in taiwan we see a powerful affirmation of democracy, something that we congratulated the people for. and something that has been consistent now over many years. and that is the most important

thing. but our fundamental interest and the fundamental interests of countries around the world is to make sure that peace and stability is maintained in the taiwan straight. any differences between beijing and taiwan are resolved peacefully. and that one of the hallmarks of success of the relationship between united states and china since the establishment of the united nations has been the management of the taiwan issue. and the premium that we have had -- and what we have had is maintaining the status quo. allowing people from taiwan to know ever better lives and to be remarkable contributors tot;■8 e global economy, which they are. but to maintain the status quo and to not take steps that would in any way disrupt it, especially when it comes to use of force. that is not only our position

but the position of country after country around the world. there is money -- one very great reason for it. 50% of commerce goes through that strait every day. if that were disrupted it would affect the entire planet. that is the last thing we need, especially coming back from covid. second, semi conductors and manufacturing capacity that taiwan has, that affects every person in this room and almost every person around the world -- around the room from the smartphone to the dishwasher to the automobile to everything else. so as small as it is, by its geography and extraordinary ingenuity, taiwan plays an outsized role in the world. that is why so many countries have a stake in preserving peace ends debility. it is not just saying that to beijing, it is comfort -- it is country after country. everyone has the same interest. [end video clip] host: secretary blinken laid out

quite a few of the key ways that taiwan contributes to the global economy. can you talk a bit more about taiwan's role in the global economy and how that shapes the way that the u.s. participates in the debate? guest: taiwan has been much more important in the glover commerc0 years. for the reason that taiwan has been doing well but also in particularly the high-tech sector. like the secretary mentioned taiwan is the center oth becauso matter what type of electronic devices we are thinking about, the semi conductor chip is the most important, it is like the brain of a computer. no matter what device it is, the design is by u.s. companies and then it will be sent to taiwan

and then put together by the taiwanese companies. and that piece, that little and very delicate pie is sent back to the united states for assembly and it gets into our day-to-day lives in the use of electronic devices. and the problem with that is because taiwan is such a leader in manufacturing globally, it means that everything comes and goes through■n taiwan, which mas commerce in the region so important. and the problem with that is if china ever attempts to retake taiwan, that would disrupt the semionductor industry. and we can easily think back to e beginning of■ covid whe we had the semi conductor srtage. and that was not because of any war in the region. multiply that by 10 times or maybe 100 times, which is why sustaining peace in the region is very important.

we can debate about how to sustain peace. the u.s. approach has been to say we are not supporting either side and you guys figure it out. so keep them guessing has been the u.s. strategy. it is called strategic ambiguity. the problem is that beijing is more and more ambitious in ■gtes of taking -- retaking taiwan and that puts a lot of pressure on whether the ambiguity strategy still works and i think it does not. christ -- if you have questions for weifeng zhong, of us a call at for debit -- 202-748-8000 free democrats. republicans, 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. if you want to text us, that is 202-748-8003. speaking of the world economic forum, china's premier spoke at davo's for the global and economic and political leaders

and did not address the taiwanese elections but complained about unfair trade practices. can you explain some of the tensions between the u.s., european union and china, particularly in those areas of high-tech and clean energy? guest: what the chineserefers te practices are the sanctions particularly in the high-tech sector on china put together by the u.s. and its allies. but if you ask any trade officials, anybody in the u.s. or western countries they would complain about unfair trade practices that china has because that has been the center of dispute ever since china joined the wto. the problem here is that a lot of the tech sectors that we are talking about including theem os called dual use sectors meaning

that the semi conductor chip produced can be used for s like computers in cars, but they could also be used by the military sector in china. a lot technically working for both. its own profit and then also the purpose of the state also in -- often includes military ambitions. that concerns western countries and that is why countries like the u.s. have taken actions on sanctions. that prompted china to say that is unfair for us. of course that is because your military ambition is unfair to the rest of the world. host: speaking of that particular meeting, china had a very large delegation to davo's. what is to be made of that especially compared to previous years? guest: it is actually quite typical when a chinese premier takes office in the chinese economy has been having problems. i see this initiatives like this

as salesmanship where the chinese premier is basically like the ceo of the country. so every time he goes out he is seeking business and this is one of these occasion. the business case has gotten weaker. they stopped even publishing the rating in china for a few months. they recently republished the data and it is just as bad as it used to be. the problem is, i think the communist state has put more so the incarnate -- so the entire -- entire economy is losing its dynamism like what we saw when china was relatively more free. host: ryan in orange, massachusetts. independent line. good morning. caller: hello. i was just wondering about the

preparedness of taiwan with military capability or the united states forming a blockade and almost the style of president kennedy with the cuban missile crisis when it comes to protecting the interest of the area. also, having a policy in the u.s. that would basically restrict china from stealing intellectual property and protecting democracy in the asian regions. host: so preparedness for a military blockade and then protections for intellectual property, what are your thoughts? guest: on the first one, trying to blockade taiwan has been the primary plan that beijing has when it comes to retaking taiwan. the problem there is that taiwan alone will never be able to defend against china. and it has to rely on help including from the united stat and other allies in the region,

japan, south korea and more. the prle is that helping taiwan defen itself is much harder than s ukraine defend itself against russia because the island is hope -- is so hard to sustain supplies from outside the region. but it is so easy for china to cross the strait. so i think the military task is very hard to accomplish. which makes it evermore important to be able to deter china from doing so, because if ]that does not happen that is a bad case scenario for us. which is why secretary blinken referenced strategic ambiguity. because that was our way to deter china before. it was enough to keep beijing guessing. now it is not enough to keep beijing guessing. and i think because china has

been more ambitious. the way to tip the balance is to signal more willingness on the u.s. part and western allies' parts to help taiwan more clearly to send the message out. i think it is not an act of provocation, it is an act of rebalance and deterrence. host: what about the question on intellectual property? guest: the way to grow for china is to steal their way to the top. i think china has done well catching up to number two in the global economy and a lot of technology sectors. i think it is a very hard balance to strive because often times the intellectual property theft conducted by beijing or through legal means like business collaborations with american companies and then t:. guest: that is part of the

unfair trade practices. it is hard to do given how intertwined the u.s. and chinese economies have been. host: a question from kevin, republican from milton, delaware. "what historical claim does china have to taiwan? guest: the civil war of china ended after the second war war, around 1948 or so when the incumbent party of the republic of china, which is now in they just left and route -- retreated back to the island. and so in the sense of the civil war, it never really technically ended because the two regimes exist. what is the mainlines -- mainland regime and the other is the taiwanese regime. there was never closure. and there were always unilateral claims on the others and it is

same for the taiwanese platform because for a while they had the ambition to retake mainland china. beijing still claims taiwan. host: once again if you would like to ask a question with the u.s. relationship with taiwan or its role in the global economy. democrats, 202-748-8000. republicans at 202-748-8001. independents, 202-748-8002. let us hear from mike in philadelphia, pennsylvania. on the democratic line. caller: yes. the previous caller -- host: we can hear you, go ahead. caller: the previous caller on military preparedness. i want to segue into regional alliances, especially south korea and japan. as u.s. power is extended around the world, what sort of relay

stations -- relations does taiwan reach out to the strong powers in stage -- in east a -- asia? and how would that change of they pursued that as a provocation. guest: i thinks deterrence is the strongest when united states works with its allies. for example if we think about ukraine and russian invasion, putin is the most turned when sanctions are implemented by not only the united states but also with allies. the is wise to try and work with our allies to put more pressure on beijing, that is way better g that taiwan has the right to be democracy. thede message is always stronge.

>> we are going to leave this program here but you can watch anytime c-span.org. coming up, repubcan congressman darrell isa talks about was relations. live coverage here on spent two. >> good key to the u.s. pacific traffic the committee is important for american policymakers and closely monitoring. in 2024, the connection across

asia and the hold elections.her, israeli, 2024. it is critical -- [inaudible] the indo-pacific's looking ahead at opportunities in the coming year. we are fortunate to have darrell isa in a senior member of the house judiciary and part of this committee. the main focus on the region in the indo-pacific over the years. welcome. >> thank you and it really is an honor. ...