The government regards the US as its most important ally and is grateful for Washington’s expression of support for Taiwan in recent days, Presidential Office spokesperson Alex Huang (黃重諺) said yesterday.
Huang made the remarks in a statement when asked for comment on US President Donald Trump’s telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
“Taiwan and the US have been in close contact and communication regarding this development, and continue to take an effective ‘zero surprise’ approach,” Huang said in the statement.
“Maintaining positive relations with the US and across the Taiwan Strait are both in line with our national interest and key to regional peace and stability, and as such they are goals that this administration will work hard to achieve,” he added.
According to a White House statement, Trump and Xi had a lengthy telephone conversation on Thursday night.
“President Trump agreed, at the request of President Xi, to honor our ‘one China’ policy,” the White House statement said.
People in Taipei familiar with diplomatic affairs said it was noteworthy that in the statement, the White House used the phrase “our ‘one China’ policy” and not “China’s ‘one China’ principle,” which indicated that the US was clearly suggesting that it would not accept China’s framework when it comes to cross-strait relations.
Additional reporting by AP
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