No, it’s not word games.
It is what the Treaty says.
Exact words matter when it comes to treaties. They don’t mean whatever somebody decides they mean.
Downer has acted as a Chinese Communist Agent for a long time.
He continued speaking out against Taiwan on China’s behalf after he left government.
He has even been on Huawei’s board.
He also was involved in the current Russia collusion hoax against Trump.
He’s not a good guy, wasn’t when he was in office.