A senior State Department official has called on Taipei to communicate fully with Washington to avoid a repetition of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) "surprise" Lunar New Year proposal to scrap the National Unification Council and unification guidelines and seek UN membership as "Taiwan."
James Keith, the department's special assistant for East Asian affairs, said he expected that Washington and Taipei would continue to operate very closely together in the future, "with no daylight between us in terms of our policy approaches."
Speaking to Taiwanese reporters at an impromptu press conference on Thursday after he made an appearance on Capitol Hill, Keith said that US policy toward Taiwan had not changed, "and we have every expectation that that will be the case in Taiwan as well."
Noting that communication between the two sides was very close, Keith said he was "gratified" by this.
"It's important that we use those channels to ensure there are no surprises between us, because these are issues that directly affect American interests, and therefore we need to be in close touch," he said.
The State Department is said to be angry that Chen put forward his proposals on UN membership and the unification council without telling Washington first. That would explain the department's sharp reaction on Monday when it took the unusual step of widely publicizing its reaction statement to Chen's speech, equating his speech with an effort to change the "status quo."
Keith, the department official most closely involved in Taiwan policy, said the department acted because "we felt it necessary to be absolutely clear about US policy ... We fully expect that the president and his government will continue to adhere to the status quo ... and that the kind of assurances that were provided in the past will continue to be honored."
The gap in communication that the department says occurred around the New Year speech is curious, considering that communication between the two sides has been closer and more open in recent years.
This is especially the case in Washington, where de facto ambassador David Lee Ta-wei (李大維) and other officials with the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office are in regular contact with key US officials.
"We've heard from the Taiwan government just about every day this week, and last week and the week before," Keith said.
On Chen's proposal to seek UN membership under the name "Taiwan," Keith said only that US policy had not changed.
"Our expectation is that we'll stay in close alignment with the government in Taiwan on that and many other issues," he said.
Keith did not directly comment on the latest statement by Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) on the issue, saying he had not seen Huang's remarks.
In response to the US rebuke, Huang said that Chen was merely suggesting that the government was considering scrapping the council and the guidelines because the council is covered by a legislative resolution that all ad hoc commissions without a legal basis be eliminated.
"The president is just reflecting the concerns of Taiwan's people," Huang said on Thursday.
"It was not Taiwan's intention to surprise the United States," he said. "If there are differences on both sides, we shall strengthen communication with the US authorities."
also see stories:
No `surprise' intended, says foreign minister
DPP legislators back Chen's proposals
President vows to keep on in `the right direction'
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
RSS