The US Department of State yesterday criticized Beijing over its misrepresentation of the US’ “one China” policy in the latest diplomatic salvo between the two countries over a bid by Taiwan to regain its observer status at the World Health Assembly, the decisionmaking body of the WHO.
“The PRC [People’s Republic of China] continues to publicly misrepresent U.S. policy,” Department of State spokesman Ned Price wrote on Twitter.
“The United States does not subscribe to the PRC’s ‘one China principle’ — we remain committed to our longstanding, bipartisan one China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, Three Joint Communiques, and Six Assurances,” he added.
Photo: AFP
Price’s comments came three days after Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Zhao Lijian (趙立堅) expressed Beijing’s displeasure at Washington’s stance, saying: “The US’ latest modification of the fact sheet is a trick to obscure and hollow out the one China principle.”
“Such political manipulation of the Taiwan question and the attempt to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait will hurt the US itself,” he told a routine news conference in Beijing.
Zhao was referring to a change to the department’s fact sheet on Taiwan that removed statements that Washington acknowledged Beijing’s “one China” position and did not support Taiwanese independence.
On Sunday last week, US President Joe Biden signed into law bill S.812 to stipulate that Washington must develop a plan to back Taiwan’s bid to take part in the WHO and other international organizations.
The legislation — which passed the US Congress with bipartisan support — lauded Taiwan as “a model contributor to world health, having provided financial and technical assistance to respond to numerous global health challenges.”
Taiwan has yet to receive an invitation to this year’s WHA, which is to be held from today to Saturday next week in Geneva, Switzerland.
The US long maintained that its “one China” policy is distinct from Beijing’s “principle” in that China asserts sovereignty over Taiwan, while Washington takes no position on the issue, David Stilwell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, told a US-based think tank in September 2020.
Washington’s interest is that “the Taiwan question be resolved peacefully, without coercion and in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the [Taiwan] Strait,” he said, adding that the US has “a commitment to assist Taiwan in its self-defense” in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced