A recent report by the Financial Times on September 11 stated that the Biden administration was seriously considering a request from Taiwan to change the name of its mission in Washington from “Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office” (TECRO) to “Taiwan Representative Office”.

The report mentions that Kurt Campbell, White House Asia adviser, has backed the change, though a final decision has not been made and would require President Joe Biden to sign an executive order.

This move is definitely one that would trigger the anger of China. That said, for Taiwan to have such a plan, it is largely due to changes in global situation and trend.

First of all, Taiwan has made the same move in Europe, and received a relatively positive response from the European Union. The United States cannot be left behind in this matter, otherwise it would appear as if Europe is now leading the world.

Second, the status of Taiwan has seen obvious changes after the Hong Kong issue and the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, Taiwan now cares much less about the countries with diplomatic relations with it. What Taiwan now seeks is a brand new global layout.

Finally, the strategy of the U.S. in Asia-Pacific plays a role in this as well. After the U.S. abandons Afghanistan, one of its few geopolitical focuses left in the world now is Taiwan. If it abandons the geopolitical lever of Taiwan, then it will become an ordinary country on the American continent. Therefore, Taiwan is actually the core concern and core interest of the United States.

China does not have a lot of realistic options in this regard; it might acquiesce to it after protesting for a while. Taiwan may have already assessed such potential change, where it estimates that Biden's term of office is only two years. The next U.S. president may very well have a tougher stance toward China and could even take more drastic actions.