Rubio calls Taiwan another democracy

 Direct translation

Rubio is really awesome! How to characterize Taiwan?

—Will Rubio's calling Taiwan this way provoke Beijing's sensitive nerves?

Editor : Fang Xun / Source: RFA / https://www.aboluowang.com/2025/0207/2171751.html / Image : At a press conference in Guatemala, US Secretary of State Rubio promised that the United States will promote Taiwan's investment and development in Guatemala. (Reuters photo)

On Wednesday (5 February 2025), U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a joint press conference with Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo, one of Taiwan's diplomatic allies, and took the initiative to mention Taiwan's role in regional economic cooperation, calling Taiwan "another democracy", while Taiwanese media translated it as "democratic country". Some scholars believe that Rubio's speech reflects that US-Taiwan relations have not changed with the new government.

Rubio, the newly appointed Secretary of State, visited Guatemala, one of Taiwan's diplomatic allies. He met with reporters together with President Arévalo. In his opening speech in Spanish, he took the initiative to mention Taiwan: "We are very grateful for your support and the relationship you already have with Taiwan, another democracy. In today's world, facing huge pressure to change this recognition and cut these ties, you have always been steadfast in supporting Taiwan." In response to reporters' questions, he expressed the United States' support for the relationship between Guatemala and Taiwan: "It is particularly worth mentioning that you (Guatemala) have a long-standing friendship and relationship with the people of Taiwan. We hope and will do everything we can to expand this relationship from the diplomatic level to the economic field." Although Rubio did not explicitly mention the words country or nation in his speech, many Taiwanese media translated "another democracy" as "democratic country", which means that it is rare for any senior Uy.S. official to describe Taiwan as a "democratic country". 

Sun Guoxiang, director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at Nanhua University, said that after the United States and the Republic of China broke off diplomatic relations, although the U.S. government adopted the "one China" policy in diplomacy, it often mentioned Taiwan's democratic system in different ways in informal occasions or public speeches, which is a continuous policy signal.

Sun Guoxiang said: "In the current sensitive context of U.S.-China-Taiwan relations, U.S. officials often use more euphemistic or indirect language to express their affirmation of Taiwan's democratic characteristics in public, using words such as "another democracy", which can both highlight Taiwan's political system and avoid directly provoking China's sensitive nerves to a certain extent."

National Policy Research Foundation Associate Researcher Li Zhengxiu believes that although Rubio's description of Taiwan as a "democratic country" is vague, it does not mean that the U.S. position on Taiwan has changed: "Based on the U.S. foreign policy and the U.S. position, it is impossible to recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, and the U.S. has not recognized it because it violates its foreign policy. The official position of the United States is that it does not deny that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent country, but the official position of the United States is not to recognize it."

He pointed out that successive U.S. governments have maintained three principles in their policies on the Taiwan Strait, including opposing any unilateral change of the status quo by any party, opposing the CCP's non-peaceful coercion of Taiwan, and not supporting Taiwan's independence. There is still no sign of change.