The US has not changed its Taiwan policy and would continue to support the nation, a source yesterday cited US Department of State officials as telling a Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) delegation earlier this month.
MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) on Sept. 6 led a delegation to Washington and met with officials from US federal agencies and the US Congress, as well as the US Department of State’s Office of China Coordination, and eight members of the US House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), the source said.
The MAC delegation also met with lawmakers in Chicago, including Illinois House of Representatives Speaker Chris Welch and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza, they said.
Photo: Cheng I-hwa, Bloomberg
The US side green-lighted Chiu’s public speech, they said.
Washington was concerned about China’s multifaceted pressure and military threats toward Taiwan, they added.
The US side stressed that it has not changed its Taiwan policy, although US President Donald Trump’s administration would communicate with China to develop stable bilateral relations, the source said.
Photo: screen grab from the Heritage Foundation’s Web site
Taiwan should understand the necessities of US-China relations’ current situation, the source quoted US officials as saying, adding that they said Washington would continue to support Taiwan.
The US side did not mention any “Lai skepticism” — a term used to describe holding doubts about President William Lai (賴清德), the source said.
Instead, the Taiwanese delegation mentioned “US skepticism,” referring to the CCP using the US’ “reciprocal” tariffs, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (台積電) investment in the US and other issues to drive a wedge between Taiwan and the US, and expressed hope that the US side can provide assistance in dealing with it, they said.
The delegation also told the US side that Taipei is “neither humble nor arrogant” and is committed to maintaining the “status quo,” they said.
The delegation also told US officials that the government upholds former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) “four commitments” and Lai’s “four pillars” plan, they said.
Taiwan would also continue to implement Lai’s 17 major strategies to maintain peace, stability and prosperity in the Strait, the delegation told the US side, they added.
They told US officials that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) has increased pressure on Taiwan in his third term, because he wants to achieve what he sees as the CCP’s “historical mission,” the source said.
“The nature of cross-strait relations has changed in Xi’s third term, and the CCP would continue to exert pressure on Taiwan, so hopefully the US, which provides the biggest military support to Taiwan, and other democracies can fully understand the situation,” they said.
The delegation also told the US side that a MAC survey showed that the majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the “status quo” in cross-strait relations, and that mainstream public opinion in Taiwan is that the nation’s status should be decided by the 23 million Taiwanese, they said.
Taiwanese do not want the government to accept the CCP’s political preconditions for official exchanges, they added.
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