The US would maintain its stance on Taiwan and oppose any unilateral move to alter the “status quo,” a US Department of State spokesperson said on Monday after a Wall Street Journal report suggested that Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) plans to press US President Donald Trump to formally oppose Taiwanese independence.
“Our position on Taiwan has not changed,” the spokesperson said in response to media queries from Taiwan.
“We remain committed to our one China policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the three US-China Joint Communiques and the six assurances to Taiwan. The United States is committed to preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” he said.
Photo: Reuters
Repeating the department’s viewpoint published in the article, the spokesperson said that “China’s actions continue to present the single greatest threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.”
The Wall Street Journal on Saturday reported that “Xi is no longer satisfied with the US position adopted by the administration of [former US] president Joe Biden, in which Washington ‘does not support’ Taiwan independence,” and intends to urge Trump to formally declare that the US “opposes” Taiwanese independence.
The piece, written by Wei Lingling (魏玲靈), bases its claims on “people familiar with the matter.”
“For Xi, the difference between not supporting Taiwan’s independence and explicitly opposing it is more than semantics,” the article said. “It would signal a shift in US policy from a neutral position to one that actively aligns with Beijing against Taiwanese sovereignty — a change that could further cement Xi’s hold on power at home.”
The report said that Xi believes he can persuade Trump to alter the US’ policy because Beijing thinks the US president is eager to reach an economic accord with China.
The two leaders plan to meet at the upcoming APEC summit in South Korea and might hold additional meetings, including a Trump visit to Beijing early next year and a Xi visit to the US in December next year, the report said.
Whether Trump travels to China would depend on Beijing’s cooperation on trade and its efforts to curb the flow of fentanyl precursors, it said.
Xi is expected to “use every chance he gets with Trump to press the American leader to adopt a firm stance against Taiwanese independence,” it added.
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today accepted an invitation from Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to lead a delegation to China next month, saying she hopes to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and bring stability to the Taiwan Strait. “I am grateful and happy to accept this invitation,” Cheng said in a statement from the KMT chairperson’s office. Cheng said she hopes both sides can work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-strait relations, enhance exchange and cooperation, bring stability to the Taiwan Strait and improve people’s livelihoods. At today's news conference, Cheng said any efforts to
The nation’s fastest supercomputer, Nano 4 (晶創26), is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter, and would be used to train large language models in finance and national defense sectors, the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC) said. The supercomputer, which would operate at about 86.05 petaflops, is being tested at a new cloud computing center in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan. The exterior of the server cabinet features chip circuitry patterns overlaid with a map of Taiwan, highlighting the nation’s central position in the semiconductor industry. The center also houses Taiwania 2, Taiwania 3, Forerunner 1 and
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
RSS