President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) transit through the US after her visit to three of Taiwan’s Pacific allies is standard practice, the US Department of State said on Thursday.
“President Tsai’s transit through the United States is based on long-standing US practice, and is consistent with the unofficial nature of our relations with Taiwan,” the department said in a statement.
Tsai on Thursday arrived in Palau on the first stop of her eight-day trip to Palau, Nauru and the Marshall Islands, her sixth overseas visit and her second trip to the nation’s Pacific allies since taking office in May 2016.
Photo: CNA
She is scheduled to stay in Palau until today and Nauru from tomorrow to Monday, before arriving in the Marshall Islands on Tuesday for the first-ever Pacific Women Leaders’ Coalition Conference, which is to be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
The president is to fly from the Marshall Islands to Hawaii for a stopover on Wednesday, and is scheduled to arrive in Taiwan at 8:20pm on Thursday, the ministry said.
“These transits are undertaken out of consideration for the safety, comfort, convenience and dignity of the traveler,” the department said.
“There has been no change to the US’ ‘one China’ policy, which is based on the Three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act,” it said.
The Taiwan Relations Act was enacted in 1979 after Washington severed ties with Taipei, with the aim of defining future unofficial relations between the US and Taiwan.
“President Tsai’s transits will be private and unofficial,” the department said.
American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman James Moriarty is to greet Tsai when she arrives in Hawaii, it said, emphasizing that the AIT is the institution that carries out Washington’s unofficial ties with Taipei.
The statement reiterated that the US encourages authorities in Taiwan and China to “engage in constructive dialogue that seeks a peaceful resolution of differences acceptable to the people of both sides of the Taiwan Strait.”
In Palau yesterday, Tsai met with Palauan President Tommy Remengesau.
The two participated in a tree-planting ceremony, during which Tsai planted a Jinhuang mango sapling and Remengesau planted an Irwin mango sapling to represent the two nations’ close ties.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
GLOBAL PROJECT: Underseas cables ‘are the nervous system of democratic connectivity,’ which is under stress, Member of the European Parliament Rihards Kols said The government yesterday launched an initiative to promote global cooperation on improved security of undersea cables, following reported disruptions of such cables near Taiwan and around the world. The Management Initiative on International Undersea Cables aims to “bring together stakeholders, align standards, promote best practices and turn shared concerns into beneficial cooperation,” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said at a seminar in Taipei. The project would be known as “RISK,” an acronym for risk mitigation, information sharing, systemic reform and knowledge building, he said at the seminar, titled “Taiwan-Europe Subsea Cable Security Cooperation Forum.” Taiwan sits at a vital junction on
LONG-HELD POSITION: Washington has repeatedly and clearly reiterated its support for Taiwan and its long-term policy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio yesterday said that Taiwan should not be concerned about being used as a bargaining chip in the ongoing US-China trade talks. “I don’t think you’re going to see some trade deal where, if what people are worried about is, we’re going to get some trade deal or we’re going to get favorable treatment on trade in exchange for walking away from Taiwan,” Rubio told reporters aboard his airplane traveling between Israel and Qatar en route to Asia. “No one is contemplating that,” Reuters quoted Rubio as saying. A US Treasury spokesman yesterday told reporters
RSS