Last week, President Joe Biden hosted a two-day virtual democracy summit at the White House. Representatives from over 100 countries were connected to the event.
“Sources familiar with the matter” who wished to remain anonymous told Reuters that, during a slide presentation by Taiwanese Digital Minister Audrey Tang, the video feed was abruptly cut “and replaced with audio only – at the behest of the White House.”
The issue was a map which “showed Taiwan in a different color to China, which claims the island as its own.”
The map had been visible for “about a minute” before the video was cut.
During that time, according to the sources, there was frantic activity going on behind the scene.
One source told Reuters the map generated an instant email flurry among U.S. officials and the White House National Security Council (NSC) angrily contacted the State Department, concerned it appeared to show Taiwan as a distinct country.
Washington complained to Taiwan’s government, which in turn was angry that Tang’s video had been cut.
The source called the U.S. move an over-reaction as the map was not inherently about national boundaries, but the NSC was also angry as the slide had not appeared in “dry-run” versions of the presentation before the summit, raising questions as to whether there was intentional messaging by Tang and Taiwan.
“They choked,” the source said of the White House reaction.
The next time Tang spoke, instead of video, her name appeared on the screen along with a disclaimer that said, “Any opinions expressed by individuals on this panel are those of the individual, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States government.”
White House officials, according to Reuters’ sources, had been concerned “that differentiating Taiwan and China on a map in a U.S.-hosted conference – to which Taiwan had been invited in a show of support at a time when it is under intense pressure from Beijing – could be seen as being at odds with Washington’s ‘one-China’ policy, which avoids taking a position as to whether Taiwan is part of China.”
Reuters contacted the State Department and a spokesperson said, “We valued Minister Tang’s participation, which showcased Taiwan’s world-class expertise on issues of transparent governance, human rights, and countering disinformation,” and that the feed had been cut by mistake.
Tang’s presentation included a color-coded map from South African NGO CIVICUS, ranking the world by openness on civil rights.
Most of Asia was shown, with Taiwan colored green, making it the only regional entity portrayed as “open,” while all the others, including several U.S. allies and partners, were labeled as being “closed,” “repressed,” “obstructed” or “narrowed.”
China, Laos, Vietnam and North Korea were colored red and labeled “closed.”
A second source “directly involved in the summit” told Reuters: “The video booth operator acted on White House instructions. It was clearly policy concerns. This was completely an internal overreaction.”
The sources said this action could be a sign that “the Biden Administration’s support for Taiwan was not as ‘rock solid’ as it has repeatedly stated.”
In an email, an NSC spokesman disputed Reuters’ report and wrote, “At no time did the White House direct that Minister Tang’s video feed be cut.”
Reuters reached out to Tang to ask if she thought the White House had cut the video due to the slide, she replied in an email: “No, I do not believe that this has anything to do with the CIVICUS map in my slides, or U.S. allies in Asia for that matter.”
Taiwan’s foreign ministry told the media outlet the feed had been cut by accident.
This was no accident. I can perfectly visualize the hysterics of White House officials leading up to the incident. After all, they wouldn’t want to upset Chairman Xi.
All in all, it was a most undemocratic moment at an event intended to celebrate democracy.
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