The US has made it clear to China that it should stop coercion and resume dialogue with Taiwan, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) said yesterday, after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on Wednesday last week reasserted that China has the right to use force against Taiwan.
“The United States has a deep and abiding interest in cross-strait peace and stability. Any resolution of cross-strait differences must be peaceful and based on the will of the people on both sides,” AIT spokeswoman Amanda Mansour told local media when asked to comment on Xi’s speech.
“The United States has made clear to Beijing that it should stop its coercion and resume dialogue with the democratically elected administration on Taiwan,” she said, without giving further details.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
“As we have said many times before, Taiwan is a democratic success story, a reliable partner and a force for good in the world,” she added.
The AIT represents US interests in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.
Mansour’s comments came after US National Security Council spokesman Garrett Marquis on Monday supported Taiwan in a tweet.
Xi on Wednesday last week gave an speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of China’s “Message to Compatriots in Taiwan.”
Xi said that China would be willing to talk with any party in Taiwan to push forward the process of peaceful unification on the basis of the “one China” principle.
However, “we make no promise to renounce the use of force and reserve the option of taking all necessary means” to that end, Xi said.
China would not target compatriots in Taiwan, but focus on the interference of external forces, as well as the small number of Taiwanese independence activists, he added.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday on Twitter expressed her gratitude to the US for its support.
“I thank the #AIT for supporting democracy & the democratically-elected government in #Taiwan. To those who #SpeakUpForTaiwan, thank you!” Tsai tweeted.
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday inaugurated the Danjiang Bridge across the Tamsui River in New Taipei City, saying that the structure would be an architectural icon and traffic artery for Taiwan. Feted as a major engineering achievement, the Danjiang Bridge is 920m long, 211m tall at the top of its pylon, and is the longest single-pylon asymmetric cable-stayed bridge in the world, the government’s Web site for the structure said. It was designed by late Iraqi-British architect Zaha Hadid. The structure, with a maximum deck of 70m, accommodates road and light rail traffic, and affords a 200m navigation channel for boats,
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