A US official on Saturday reaffirmed Washington’s stance toward Taiwan, after China’s Xinhua news agency reported that US President Barack Obama expressed the US’ “opposition” to “Taiwanese independence” in a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in China.
“Our position is consistent and longstanding... We remain firmly committed to our ‘one China’ policy based on the three joint communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act,” White House National Security Council spokesman Myles Caggins said in an e-mailed statement.
Obama and Xi held a meeting in Hangzhou on the eve of the G20 summit taking place there, and according to Xinhua, Xi urged the US to honor its commitment to the “one China” policy and the three joint communiques, and safeguard the peaceful development of cross-strait ties and the overall interests of Sino-US cooperation with deeds.
According to Xinhua, Obama responded that the US “opposes all attempts aimed at seeking Taiwanese independence,” and reaffirmed that Tibet belongs to China.
“Our fundamental interest is in peaceful and stable cross-strait relations,” said Caggins, who is among the White House staff accompanying Obama in China.
“We believe that cross-strait issues should be resolved peacefully in a manner, pace and scope acceptable to people on both sides of the Strait,” Caggins added.
However, Caggins did not reveal the details of the meeting between the two leaders.
Earlier this year, Daniel Kritenbrink, senior director for Asian Affairs at the US National Security Council, said that Chinese officials often mention the Taiwanese issue during meetings with their US counterparts, and if US officials comment on the issue, they say: “We do not support Taiwanese independence.”
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
RSS