The US Department of State yesterday reaffirmed that US policy on Taiwan has not changed after US President Donald Trump used the word “unification” while commenting on recent trade talks with China.
At a wide-ranging press conference yesterday, Trump spoke about what he believed were the gains made by US trade talks with China in Geneva over the weekend.
“They’ve agreed to open China — fully open China. And I think it’s going to be fantastic for China. I think it's going to be fantastic for us,” Trump said, “I think it’s going to be great for unification and peace.”
Photo: Reuters
Trump’s use of the word “unification,” almost always used in the context of China unifying or annexing Taiwan, raised eyebrows in Taiwan.
The US Department of State said that Trump had not been referring to Taiwan.
“It's clear President Trump was speaking in the context of the US-China trade relationship,” a department spokesperson told CNA yesterday.
Just before using the term “unification” in his remarks yesterday, Trump lamented the falling through of a trade deal with China during his first term that he said “would have brought unity, better unity, between China and the US,” perhaps indicating that he misused the term “unification.”
The department also reiterated that “US policy on Taiwan remains the same.”
“We continue to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” it said, adding that the US “opposes any unilateral changes to the status quo by either side.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs responded to Trump’s comment by echoing the department’s contention that it was made in a trade context.
“According to our understanding, the Taiwan issue was not touched on during the latest round of US-China trade negotiations,” said ministry spokesperson Hsiao Kuangwei (蕭光偉) during a ministry weekly briefing today.
Trump’s comments followed two days of talks in Switzerland between the world’s two largest economies, during which the two sides agreed to ease their tit-for-tat battle over tariffs.
Under the preliminary agreement, the US would lower tariffs on Chinese imports from 145 percent to 30 percent, while China would reduce levies on US goods from 125 percent to 10 percent.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) is to launch a new program to encourage international students to stay in Taiwan and explore job opportunities here after graduation, Deputy Minister of Education Yeh Ping-cheng (葉丙成) said on Friday. The government would provide full scholarships for international students to further their studies for two years in Taiwan, so those who want to pursue a master’s degree can consider applying for the program, he said. The fields included are science, technology, engineering, mathematics, semiconductors and finance, Yeh added. The program, called “Intense 2+2,” would also assist international students who completed the two years of further studies in
Former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) departed for Europe on Friday night, with planned stops in Lithuania and Denmark. Tsai arrived at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Friday night, but did not speak to reporters before departing. Tsai wrote on social media later that the purpose of the trip was to reaffirm the commitment of Taiwanese to working with democratic allies to promote regional security and stability, upholding freedom and democracy, and defending their homeland. She also expressed hope that through joint efforts, Taiwan and Europe would continue to be partners building up economic resilience on the global stage. The former president was to first
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
MORE NEEDED: Recall drives against legislators in Miaoli’s two districts and Hsinchu’s second district were still a few thousand signatures short of the second-stage threshold Campaigners aiming to recall Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislators yesterday said they expect success in 30 out of 35 districts where drives have passed the second-stage threshold, which would mark a record number of recall votes held at once. Hsinchu County recall campaigners yesterday announced that they reached the second-stage threshold in the recall effort against Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘). A total of 26,414 signatures have been gathered over the past two months, surpassing the 10 percent threshold of 23,287 in Hsinchu County’s second electoral district, chief campaigner Hsieh Ting-ting (謝婷婷) said. “Our target is to gather an additional 1,500 signatures to reach
RSS