A senior US official has commended Taipei and Beijing for “historic progress” made in improving relations. But he is also emphasizing that Washington’s policy on Taiwan has not changed, despite a recent “mischaracterization” by Beijing.
The official is Senior Director for Asian Affairs of the National Security Council Evan Medeiros. He said on Friday that the US hopes better relations between Taiwan and China will continue “in ways acceptable to both sides”.
Medeiros’ comments came at a seminar organized by the Washington-based think tank, the Brookings Institution. The seminar marked the 35th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between the US and China.
In a prepared remark, Medeiros said that the issue of Taiwan has been one of the “perennial difficulties” in US-China relations. But he insisted that the position of the US has not changed.
Medeiros also decried a statement released by the Chinese foreign ministry after a meeting between US President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
The Chinese statement seemed to indicate a change in US position on the issue of Taiwan. But Medeiros called it a “willful mischaracterization”.
The US is bound by the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan with defensive weapons. Former US President Ronald Reagan also made the so-called Six Assurances to Taiwan, including not setting a date for ending US arms sales to Taiwan and not pressuring Taiwan into negotiations with China.