Washington reaffirmed its commitment to Taiwan at a briefing following a meeting between US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and top Chinese diplomat Yang Jiechi (楊潔篪) in Switzerland earlier this month, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said yesterday.
The US recently briefed Taiwan on the Sullivan-Yang meeting as part of a long-standing practice following similar high-level official meetings between the US and China, said Hsu Yu-tien (徐佑典), the head of MOFA’s Department of North American Affairs.
At the briefing, the US reassured Taiwan of its “rock-solid” commitment as outlined in the Taiwan Relations Act and “six assurances,” Hsu said.
Photo: AFP
However, as is practice, Taiwan would not disclose when the meeting took place or what level of US officials hosted it, Hsu said.
A readout released by the White House after the meeting said that Sullivan and Yang, a Chinese Communist Party politburo member and director of the Chinese Central Foreign Affairs Commission, met in Zurich on Wednesday last week, as a follow-up to a Sept. 9 telephone call between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
The readout said that Sullivan discussed areas in which Washington is concerned about Beijing’s actions, such as human rights, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, the South China Sea and Taiwan.
“Mr. Sullivan made clear that while we will continue to invest in our own national strength and work closely with our allies and partners, we will also continue to engage with the PRC [People’s Republic of China] at a senior level to ensure responsible competition,” the readout said.
Meanwhile, Hsu said that Taiwan and the US are still in talks about preparations for a second US-Taiwan Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue.
However, details such as when and where it would be held have not yet been decided, Hsu said.
The inaugural dialogue was held in Washington in November last year and covered a broad range of economic issues, including 5G networks and telecommunications security, supply chains, renewable energy and global health, and was meant to reinforce the economic relationship between Taiwan and the US.
The US delegation was led by then-US undersecretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Keith Krach, while Taiwan’s was led by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) and Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花).
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