US State Department struggles to get its fact sheet straight on Taiwan
- After triggering an angry response from Beijing, officials amend document on relations with Taipei for the second time in weeks
- Latest change restores a line making clear that Washington does not support independence for the island
The US State Department has again updated its fact sheet on its relations with Taiwan, restoring a line to say it does not support independence for the self-ruled island, which Beijing regards as its territory.
The department changed its US relations with Taiwan fact sheet on May 5, deleting a declaration in place since 2018 that it “does not support Taiwan independence”.
But the line was reinstated in a new version dated May 28, in a change first reported by the Taiwanese Central News Agency on Friday.
“We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means,” the latest version says.
The earlier update – which also removed a section recognising the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government of China – triggered an angry response from Beijing, which regards the island as a breakaway province to be returned, by force if necessary.
The Chinese foreign ministry accused the US of using a “petty trick” with the amendment, to hollow out the one-China principle.
The fact sheet changes follow confusing signals from Washington regarding its policies towards Taiwan, after US President Joe Biden answered “yes” to the question of whether the US would back up the island militarily if it was attacked from the mainland.
His remarks sparked concerns last month over whether Washington is still following its long-standing policy of strategic ambiguity, which is deliberately unclear about US intentions in the event of a PLA attack on Taiwan.
Biden and other US officials later appeared to walk back the comment, saying US policy on Taiwan had not changed.
US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in May that the US does not support Taiwan independence and “we have repeatedly made this clear both in public and in private”.
US President Joe Biden says US military will defend Taiwan if attacked
Analysts said Beijing and Taipei should not read too much into Biden’s remarks. In their assessment, Washington does not want to see a cross-strait conflict.
Ties between Washington and Taipei have become closer in recent years – to the dismay of Beijing which fiercely opposes other countries forming official relations with the island.
On Wednesday, the US launched an economic cooperation initiative with Taipei, which Beijing denounced as a move that would endanger China-US relations.
US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin told Nikkei Asia in a written interview published on Wednesday that “the United States will make available to Taiwan defence articles and services necessary to enable it to maintain a sufficient self-defence capability commensurate with the Chinese threat”.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told reporters on Thursday that Beijing had always firmly opposed US arms sales to Taiwan, “which seriously infringe on China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and seriously interfere in China’s internal affairs”.