The raising of the Republic of China’s (ROC) national flag at a New Year’s Day ceremony at Twin Oaks Estate in Washington last week was “not consistent” with US policy, US Department of State spokesperson Jan Psaki said on Monday.
“We did not know about the Jan. 1 flag-raising at Twin Oaks in advance,” she said.
The statement — made in answer to a question at the daily press briefing — came as a surprise.
Photo: CNA
Representative to the US Shen Lyu-shun (沈呂巡) was quoted following the flag-raising ceremony as saying he had notified the administration of US President Barack Obama in advance and was granted permission to raise the flag as long as it was not widely publicized.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO) in Washington referred questions about Psaki’s reaction to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Taipei.
According to earlier reports, Beijing was “furious” about the flag-raising and lodged a formal objection.
It was believed to be the first time that the Taiwanese flag had been raised at Twin Oaks — the residence of the nation’s official representative to the US — since the US switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing 36 years ago.
Sources who closely monitor the Taiwan-US relationship told the Taipei Times on Monday they were “very surprised” by the State Department statement because it seemed “inconceivable” that TECRO would raise the flag without US permission.
“Why do it now? It doesn’t make any sense,” one source said.
He said the relationship was so “sensitive” and subject to such tight diplomatic protocols that nothing could be gained and potentially much goodwill could be lost by ignoring the agreed-upon rules.
Psaki said that the US remained fully committed to the “one China” policy, based on the three communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act.
“No US government personnel attended the event in any capacity,” Psaki said.
“Nothing has changed as it relates to our relationship,” she added.
A US reporter asked: “Are you objecting to a private ceremony at which there was — that some people raised the Taiwanese flag?”
“We just said the ceremony is not consistent with our policy. That’s it,” Psaki replied.
The reporter pressed: “Well, so what?”
Psaki said she had been asked for the US position on the flag-raising and was giving that position.
The reporter then asked: “If I raise the flag of Narnia over my house, that’s going to be inconsistent with US policy?”
There was laughter in the press room as Psaki answered: “We may talk about you, but I don’t know if I’ll have a US government comment on it.”
The reporter asked if the US government was involved “in any way, shape or form” in the raising of the Taiwanese flag at Twin Oaks.
“No, we were not,” Psaki said. “We didn’t attend. We didn’t know about it. That’s our specific comment.”
The reporter asked: “Can you not raise the Taiwan flag in the United States? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I don’t have anything more,” Psaki replied.
Finally, she was asked if China had made a protest and she said: “I’d point you to the Chinese on that.”
Taiwan has arranged for about 8 million barrels of crude oil, or about one-third of its monthly needs, to be shipped from the Red Sea this month to bypass the Strait of Hormuz and ease domestic supply pressures, CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) said yesterday. The state-run oil company has worked with Middle Eastern suppliers to secure routes other than the Strait of Hormuz, through which about 20 percent of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas typically passes, CPC chairman Fang Jeng-zen (方振仁) said at a meeting of the legislature’s Economics Committee in Taipei. Suppliers in Saudi Arabia have indicated they
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
CCP ‘PAWN’? Beijing could use the KMT chairwoman’s visit to signal to the world that many people in Taiwan support the ‘one China’ principle, an academic said Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday arrived in China for a “peace” mission and potential meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), while a Taiwanese minister detailed the number of Chinese warships currently deployed around the nation. Cheng is visiting at a time of increased Chinese military pressure on Taiwan, as the opposition-dominated Legislative Yuan stalls a government plan for US$40 billion in extra defense spending. Speaking to reporters before going to the airport, Cheng said she was going on a “historic journey for peace,” but added that some people felt uneasy about her trip. “If you truly love Taiwan,
NEW LOW: The council in 2024 based predictions on a pessimistic estimate for the nation’s total fertility rate of 0.84, but last year that rate was 0.69, 17 percent lower An expected National Development Council (NDC) report expects the nation’s population to drop below 12 million by 2065, with the old-age dependency ratio to top 100 percent sooner than 2070, sources said yesterday. The council is slated to release its latest population projections in August, using an ultra-low fertility model, the sources said. The previous report projected that Taiwan’s population would fall to 14.37 million by 2070, but based on a new estimate of the total fertility rate (TFR) — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — the population is expected to reach 12 million by
RSS