The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed gratitude toward the US for reiterating its support for cross-strait peace following a round of high-level talks between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) held over the weekend.
Washington and Beijing late on Saturday separately announced that Sullivan and Wang, who is also a Chinese Communist Party Politburo member and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, met in Bangkok on Friday and Saturday.
Both sides said the round of talks was meant to follow up on the San Francisco summit of US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in November last year that included issues related to Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Middle East, North Korea, the South China Sea and Myanmar.
Photo: Yang Cheng-yu, Taipei Times
The talks were part of an effort “to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition in the relationship as directed by the leaders,” the White House said in its statement.
Sullivan stressed that although the two world powers “are in competition, both countries need to prevent it from veering into conflict or confrontation,” it said.
Regarding cross-strait relations, Sullivan “underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” the White House said.
“Sullivan reiterated that the United States remains committed to our One China policy guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, Three Communiques,” it said. “He indicated the US opposes unilateral changes to the status quo from either side, that we do not support Taiwan independence, and that we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved peacefully.”
A separate statement issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wang stressed during the two-day meeting that “the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair, and the election in the Taiwan region cannot change the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China,” referring to the presidential and legislative elections on Jan. 13.
“The biggest risk to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the so-called ‘Taiwan independence’ movement. The biggest challenge to China-US relations is also the ‘Taiwan independence’ movement,” it added.
MOFA yesterday thanked Washington for reiterating its support for cross-strait peace and stability, but it denounced Wang’s remarks that “the Taiwan question is China’s internal affair.”
In its statement, MOFA reiterated that the Republic of China is a sovereign and independent country and that neither it nor the People’s Republic of China is subordinate to the other.
These facts and the “status quo” have long been recognized by the international community, with the Jan. 13 presidential and legislative elections marking yet another demonstration of its “mature and healthy democracy,” which received widespread international acclaim and congratulatory messages from more than 100 countries, MOFA said.
“No distorted narrative on Taiwan’s sovereign status by China can alter the fact nor the status quo,” it added.
Beijing has been attempting to change the “status quo” by being provocative and threatening Taipei, the ministry said.
That China repeatedly uses cross-strait issues to pressure other countries and to drive a wedge between Taiwan and others demonstrate that Beijing is “the troublemaker damaging regional and cross-strait peace and stability,” it added.
An Emirates flight from Dubai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport yesterday afternoon, the first service of the airline since the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran on Saturday. Flight EK366 took off from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at 3:51am yesterday and landed at 4:02pm before taxiing to the airport’s D6 gate at Terminal 2 at 4:08pm, data from the airport and FlightAware, a global flight tracking site, showed. Of the 501 passengers on the flight, 275 were Taiwanese, including 96 group tour travelers, the data showed. Tourism Administration Deputy Director-General Huang He-ting (黃荷婷) greeted Taiwanese passengers at the airport and
STRAIT OF HORMUZ: In the case of a prolonged blockade by Iran, Taiwan would look to sources of LNG outside the Middle East, including Australia and the US Taiwan would not have to ration power due to a shortage of natural gas, Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said yesterday, after reports that the Strait of Hormuz was closed amid the conflict in the Middle East. The government has secured liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies for this month and contingency measures are in place if the conflict extends into next month, Kung told lawmakers. Saying that 25 percent of Taiwan’s natural gas supplies are from Qatar, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) caucus secretary-general Lin Pei-hsiang (林沛祥) asked about the situation in light of the conflict. There would be “no problems” with
PLANE HIT: The Israeli military said it shot down an Iranian Air Force fighter over Tehran, while an Iranian warship sank off Sri Lanka, with no cause known The US and Israel yesterday hit Iran’s capital and other cities in multiple airstrikes on the fifth day of the war with Iran. Israel targeted the Iranian leadership and security forces, while the Islamic Republic responded with missile barrages and drone attacks on Israel, and across the region. Tehran residents woke to dawn blasts and Iranian state television showed the ruins of building in the center of the capital. The Shiite seminary city of Qom and multiple other cities were also targeted. With fighter jets roaring overhead, those still in Tehran looked anxiously to the skies. One man, who ran a clothing shop,
Taiwan pineapples are to be exported to the US for the first time later this year, after the US yesterday announced importation requirements, the Ministry of Agriculture said today. The US Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service yesterday published a draft of requirements to import Taiwanese pineapples, with a 62-day comment period, the ministry said in a news release. The US maintains strict requirements for imported fresh fruit, it said. The ministry’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency applied to export pineapples to the US in 2020 and has since cooperated with the US to provide all the necessary information and reports, it
RSS