From Taipei Times:
When Taiwanese government officials began publicly requesting that the US repeat the 1982 “Six Assurances” on the record in some manner, the issue was already lost. For starters, how reassured can anyone feel if the so-called “assurances” have to be dragged out from an otherwise unwilling source?
Further, even if Taiwanese leaders got their wish, would they in fact be convinced that the content of the so-called assurances are appropriate for their contemporary circumstances?
The debate over these six assurances is misleading.
In actuality, the most important question here is not whether the US will publicly repeat the six assurances or not. [Full Text]
Randall Schriver is a former US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs and a founding partner of Armitage International LC.