The US on Thursday said that its policy and commitment toward Taiwan remain unchanged, despite the removal of the Republic of China (ROC) national flag from two US government Web sites.
The US remains committed to its “one China” policy based on the Three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act, US Department of State spokeswoman Heather Nauert said at the Foreign Press Centers in Washington.
“We consider Taiwan to be a vital partner, a democratic success story and a force for good in the world. Taiwan shares our values and has earned our respect, and continues to merit our strong support,” she said.
Photo: Nadia Tsao, Taipei Times
Despite her words, there was no explanation as to why the US removed the flag from the government Web sites.
Presidential Office spokesman Sidney Lin (林鶴明) said the US is Taiwan’s most important partner in the international community, adding that the long-standing good relations between the two nations are of great importance to Northeast Asia.
Lin also expressed appreciation for US support of Taiwan in all fields, saying that as a constructive member of the global community, Taiwan would continue to contribute to peace and prosperity in the region.
Local media on Wednesday reported that the ROC flag had been removed from the official Web sites of the US Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs and the Office of the US Trade Representative, causing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest the unexpected move.
Ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said Taiwan is “disappointed” by the removal of its national flag from the Web sites, and called such a move “unthinkable” and “unacceptable.”
Taiwan has expressed its grave concern over the matter to Washington, he said.
Over the past few months, Taipei has held talks with Washington over its decision to remove the ROC flag from the department’s Web site in September 2017, he added.
BUILDUP: US General Dan Caine said Chinese military maneuvers are not routine exercises, but instead are ‘rehearsals for a forced unification’ with Taiwan China poses an increasingly aggressive threat to the US and deterring Beijing is the Pentagon’s top regional priority amid its rapid military buildup and invasion drills near Taiwan, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday. “Our pacing threat is communist China,” Hegseth told the US House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense during an oversight hearing with US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. “Beijing is preparing for war in the Indo-Pacific as part of its broader strategy to dominate that region and then the world,” Hegseth said, adding that if it succeeds, it could derail
CHIP WAR: The new restrictions are expected to cut off China’s access to Taiwan’s technologies, materials and equipment essential to building AI semiconductors Taiwan has blacklisted Huawei Technologies Co (華為) and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp (SMIC, 中芯), dealing another major blow to the two companies spearheading China’s efforts to develop cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) chip technologies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs’ International Trade Administration has included Huawei, SMIC and several of their subsidiaries in an update of its so-called strategic high-tech commodities entity list, the latest version on its Web site showed on Saturday. It did not publicly announce the change. Other entities on the list include organizations such as the Taliban and al-Qaeda, as well as companies in China, Iran and elsewhere. Local companies need
CRITICISM: It is generally accepted that the Straits Forum is a CCP ‘united front’ platform, and anyone attending should maintain Taiwan’s dignity, the council said The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday said it deeply regrets that former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) echoed the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “one China” principle and “united front” tactics by telling the Straits Forum that Taiwanese yearn for both sides of the Taiwan Strait to move toward “peace” and “integration.” The 17th annual Straits Forum yesterday opened in Xiamen, China, and while the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) local government heads were absent for the first time in 17 years, Ma attended the forum as “former KMT chairperson” and met with Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧). Wang
CROSS-STRAIT: The MAC said it barred the Chinese officials from attending an event, because they failed to provide guarantees that Taiwan would be treated with respect The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Friday night defended its decision to bar Chinese officials and tourism representatives from attending a tourism event in Taipei next month, citing the unsafe conditions for Taiwanese in China. The Taipei International Summer Travel Expo, organized by the Taiwan Tourism Exchange Association, is to run from July 18 to 21. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) on Friday said that representatives from China’s travel industry were excluded from the expo. The Democratic Progressive Party government is obstructing cross-strait tourism exchange in a vain attempt to ignore the mainstream support for peaceful development
RSS