New US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson recently reaffirmed the “six assurances” regarding US policy toward Taiwan in response to questions from US Senator Ben Cardin before the US Senate confirmed him as the country’s top diplomat on Feb. 1.
In the written responses, Tillerson said that the Three Joint Communiques, the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and the “six assurances” provide the foundation for US policy toward Taiwan and China, adding that the US should continue to uphold its “one China” policy and support a peaceful and mutually agreeable cross-Taiwan Strait outcome.
Tillerson was replying to Cardin’s questions regarding whether the principles of the communiques and the TRA remain the important foundations of the US-China relationship and whether he believes that the “one China” policy remains valid or needs revision.
Photo: AFP
He also said that if confirmed, he intends to support the “one China” policy.
Tillerson was also asked whether he was concerned that US President Donald Trump’s suggestion in an interview in December last year that the “one China” policy was negotiable might have created the impression that Taiwan is nothing more than a bargaining chip and might undermine the US’ ability to support Taiwan and protect US interests in peace and stability in the region.
“The people of Taiwan are friends of the United States and should not be treated as a bargaining chip. The US commitment to Taiwan is both a legal commitment and a moral imperative,” he said.
Under the “one China” policy, the US recognizes the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China and acknowledges the Chinese position that Taiwan is part of China, Tillerson said.
As required by the TRA, the US continues to provide Taiwan with defensive arms and maintains the capacity to resist any resort to force or other forms of coercion that would jeopardize the security, or the social or economic system, of the people of Taiwan, Tillerson wrote.
He said that the US also upholds the “six assurances” toward Taiwan, adding that, if confirmed, he would continue these policies and work to ensure that the cross-strait military balance remains favorable to peace and stability.
Tillerson first mentioned the “six assurances” at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Jan. 11.
Then-US president Ronald Reagan issued the “six assurances” in 1982, which include pledges not to set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, not to hold prior consultations with China regarding arms sales to Taiwan and not to play a mediation role between Taiwan and China.
They also promise that the US will not revise the TRA, will not pressure Taiwan to enter into negotiations with China and will not formally recognize Chinese sovereignty over Taiwan.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS