The US has issued a low-key approval of the talks between representatives of Taiwan and China in Nanjing on Tuesday.
Asked if the US welcomed “these types of dialogues in the future between Taiwan and China,” US Department of State spokesperson Jennifer Psaki replied: “We do.”
“We welcome the steps both sides of the Taiwan Strait have taken to reduce tensions and improve relations between Beijing and Taipei,” Psaki said.
“We encourage authorities in Beijing and Taipei to continue their constructive dialogue, which has led to significant improvement in the cross-strait relationship. So, we certainly welcome the resumption,” she added.
Psaki was asked if Taiwan or China had contacted the US before Tuesday’s meeting.
She said she would have to check on that and find out if there had been any prior discussions.
Later, a Washington source with close ties to the administration of US President Barack Obama told the Taipei Times that there had been discussions with Taipei before the meeting and that the US expected to receive a full background briefing on the outcome.
Psaki did not mention the meeting when she opened her regular Department of State press briefing on Tuesday and the question about the meeting was not asked until near the end of the session.
If she had not been specifically asked, the meeting would likely not have been mentioned.
“We are not making a big deal of this,” the Washington source said.
The New York Times reported that while few breakthroughs were expected from the meeting, “the symbolism of the talks was considered noteworthy.”
The newspaper quoted Jonathan Sullivan, a China specialist at the University of Nottingham in England, as saying that Beijing knew that President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) “is pro-China.”
Sullivan said that because China did not know what the next president of Taiwan would be like, Beijing may want “to try and institutionalize some contact mechanism and lock in future political leaders in Taiwan.”
Time magazine said on its Web site that the Nanjing meeting had “once seemed impossible.”
“Though the talks barely made headlines on the Chinese mainland, they are likely to cause a stir in Taiwan, which remains deeply split on the issue,” it said. “President Ma’s second term is half over and there is a growing sense that, when it comes to cross-strait ties, the winds may yet turn.”
Following the talks, Reuters reported that they marked “a big step towards expanding cross-strait dialogue beyond economic and trade issues.”
On Monday, the Washington-based Freedom House urged the Chinese government to issue visas to two Taiwanese reporters denied entry to China and thus preventing them from covering the Nanjing meeting.
“The Chinese government’s refusal to grant access to these journalists reflects two important trends — the Communist Party’s expansion of its tactics for influencing media from Hong Kong to Taiwan, and the government’s use of visa denials as a way to punish overseas news outlets for critical coverage,” Freedom House senior research analyst Sarah Cook said.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS