The White House suddenly shut off the video feed of the Taiwanese
minister during President Joe Biden’s Summit for Democracy. This abrupt move
came when the minister displayed a map where Taiwan was shown independent of
China. This image was pulled down and replaced with an audio feed.

While Reuters has reported that the White House issued this order, the account
has been disputed by Washington’s seat of power. Apparently, the White House
was concerned when Taiwanese Digital Minister Audrey Tang, displayed a map
that went against USA’s ‘one China’ policy. As per this policy, the US government
acknowledges but does not take a stand regarding China’s claim of Taiwan being
part of their territory.

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Notably, Taiwan was asked to participate in a display of support against
the backdrop of China’s increasing aggression against the self-ruled country.
When the feed was cut off, Tang was making a point about Taiwan’s openness to
civil rights, using colour-coded maps. Her feed disappeared and was replaced by
audio, and a screenshot reading out her name and position. A disclaimer also
quickly distinguished that the opinions of individuals on the panel do not
necessarily reflect the US government’s stance.

The State Department has obviously put it down as a snafu saying Taiwan’s
inputs at the summit were highly valued and calling the entire matter an honest
mistake. However, the incident reportedly led to a quick exchange of emails,
with the National Security Council communicating to the State Department that
the particular slide was not included during the dry run.

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While policy concerns might have motivated the act, both sides are
sticking to their version of events that the entire matter was just a technical
problem. Tang is of the opinion as well that her feed was not cut off.
Nonetheless, this would make it a very timely coincidence.