The government yesterday welcomed a statement by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that “Taiwan has not been a part of China,” saying that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait should maintain the “status quo” based on equal dignity.
During a telephone interview with the Hugh Hewitt Show radio program aired on Thursday, Pompeo was asked to comment on the US’ commitments to Taiwan’s security and the opinions of radical elements of the Chinese Communist Party that Taiwan should be “retaken by force if necessary.”
In response, Pompeo said it was important to “get the language right.”
Photo: AFP
“Taiwan has not been a part of China, and that was recognized with the work that the [former US president Ronald] Reagan administration did to lay out the policies that the United States has adhered to now for three-and-a-half decades, and done so under both administrations,” he said, referring to Reagan’s “six assurances” made to Taipei in 1982.
“I actually think this is in fact bipartisan. I think the central understandings that this is a model for democracy that the people who live on Taiwan ought to be honored by having the Chinese live up to the commitments that they have made — I think this is something that both parties can agree to,” he said.
“You’ve seen our announcements with respect to weapon sales to Taiwan to assist in their defense capabilities. All of these things are designed to live up to the promises that have been made between, frankly, China and the Taiwanese people,” he added.
Pompeo also highlighted the importance of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue among the US, Australia, India and Japan, saying that it would build a set of common understandings that deliver increased security in the region for travel and navigation.
In Taipei, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said in a statement yesterday that it is an indisputable fact that the Republic of China is a sovereign state of 23 million Taiwanese who love freedom and democracy, and are glad to make contributions to the global community.
Both sides of the Strait should, based on the principle of equal dignity, jointly maintain the peaceful and stable “status quo” across the Strait, he said.
Taiwan would continue to fulfill its international obligations, making positive contributions to cross-strait and regional peace, stability and prosperity, he said.
“The Republic of China is a sovereign state, not part of the People’s Republic of China, which is a fact as well as the status quo,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) said in a separate statement, thanking Pompeo for his support.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that China would strike back against any moves that undermine its core interests.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin (汪文斌) said that Taiwan was an inalienable part of China and that Pompeo was further damaging US-China ties.
“We solemnly tell Pompeo and his ilk, that any behavior that undermines China’s core interests and interferes with China’s domestic affairs will be met with a resolute counterattack by China,” he said, without elaborating.
Additional reporting by Reuters
COMMITMENT: The world’s biggest contract chipmaker said that its new 2nm chips, as well as next-generation, cutting-edge 1.4nm chips, will be produced in Taiwan Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said that the majority of its most advanced chips would continue to be manufactured in Taiwan and that it is boosting advanced chip packaging capacity to catch up with fast-growing demand driven by generative artificial intelligence (AI) applications like ChatGPT. Deeply rooted in Taiwan, TSMC is expanding production capacity for its most advanced 3-nanometer (nm) chips at its Tainan fab and is building new plants to produce new 2-nanometer chips in Hsinchu and Taichung in 2025. The chipmaker also plans to produce next-generation, cutting-edge 1.4-nanometer chips, which are currently under development, at home, it
PASSAGE DISPUTE: A US and Canadian transit was a provocation and an attempt to ‘exercise hegemony of navigation,’ China’s defense ministry told a forum in Singapore The Ministry of National Defense yesterday urged the Chinese Communist Party to avoid provocative behavior after a Chinese navy ship crossed the paths of a US destroyer and Canadian frigate transiting the Taiwan Strait. A Chinese ship on Saturday “executed maneuvers in an unsafe manner in the vicinity of [the USS] Chung-Hoon,” an American destroyer, the US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement. The vessel “overtook Chung-Hoon on their port side and crossed their bow at 150 yards [137m]. Chung-Hoon maintained course and slowed to 10 [knots, 18.5kph] to avoid a collision,” the statement said. It then “crossed Chung-Hoon’s bow a second time
HARD-WON FREEDOM: Beijing’s 1989 crackdown on protesters has not been and should not be forgotten, as China tightens its grip on Hong Kong, Lai said Taiwanese enjoy democracy and freedom and have multiple ways to express their creativity, and hopefully young people in China would also one day have the freedom to sing and express themselves, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre. Yesterday was the 34th anniversary of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s bloody crackdown on student-led protests in Beijing in 1989, also known as the June Fourth Incident. Tsai posted a photograph taken in March in a subway station in Guizhou, China, where hundreds of young people gathered to sing People With No Ideals Don’t Get Hurt (沒有理想的人不傷心), saying that they
GUILTY AS CHARGED: Chen Hsueh-sheng repeatedly pressed his belly against a DPP lawmaker and made derogatory remarks when confronted over his behavior The Taipei District Court yesterday upheld a verdict against Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Chen Hsueh-sheng (陳雪生), finding him liable for sexually harassing Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Fan Yun (范雲) during a physical altercation on the legislative floor in 2020. The DPP lawmaker accused Chen of pressing his belly against her back three times in a sexually suggestive manner during a scuffle between lawmakers from both parties. Chen must pay Fan NT$80,000 in damages as stipulated by a summary ruling of the district court at the first trial, the court said in a news release. The verdict is final as the
RSS