American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt will be in Taipei for a four-day visit starting on Monday to brief the government on US President Barack Obama’s recent trip to China, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Shen Lyu-hsun (沈呂巡) said yesterday.
Shen told the legislature’s Foreign and National Defense Committee that the US has not backtracked on its commitment to Taiwan, even though the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) was not mentioned in the US-China joint statement issued during Obama’s visit to Beijing.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has voiced concern about the omission.
Shen said that although the TRA was not specifically raised in the statement, Obama spoke about it in the joint press statement he gave at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) on Tuesday.
Obama’s gesture illustrated that the US has not wavered from its commitment to Taiwan or its “one China” policy, Shen said, rejecting DPP claims that the US is moving in a more China-centric direction at the expense of Taiwan’s sovereignty.
“It is important to listen to what the Americans are saying, but it is just as important to watch what the Americans are doing. Sometimes actions speak louder than words,” he said.
DPP Legislator Tsai Huang-liang (蔡煌瑯), however, said that in addition to the absence of any mention of the TRA in the document, the statement’s reference that “the two countries reiterate that the fundamental principle of respect for each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity is at the core of the three US-China joint communiques which guide US-China relations” means that the US has indirectly recognized Taiwan as part of China.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs must protest to the US and demand a clear explanation and a commitment that Taiwan is not part of China,” Tsai said.
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