A top foreign policy aide to US President Barack Obama on Wednesday refused to comment on a possible meeting between President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Deputy National Security Adviser for Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes danced around the question, giving little indication of the White House’s reaction. Nevertheless, it was the first time the Obama administration had publicly addressed the possible meeting.
Rhodes was asked at a conference in the US Department of State’s Foreign Press Center how the Obama administration viewed the prospect of a “summit” or meeting between Xi and Ma.
“That is something that both sides would have to agree to,” he said. “We have, as a general matter, supported cross-strait dialogue.”
He said the US had encouraged the “constructive approach” that Ma and Xi had brought to the dialogue.
“As a friend to both sides, what we would want to see is an outcome that reduces any tension across the Strait and that pursues closer ties that benefit both the people of Taiwan and the People’s Republic of China,” Rhodes said.
He had been reminded by the questioner at the conference that Mainland Affairs Council Minister Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) and Taiwan Affairs Office Director Zhang Zhijun (張志軍) were scheduled to meet in Nanjing on Feb. 11 and that there was speculation that the meeting could lead to a Ma-Xi summit later in the year.
“The US will continue to support cross-strait dialogue, to see it advance and evolve over time, to see it address the different facets of the relationship,” Rhodes said.
If Ma and Xi decided to meet, “that is something we will have to review at the time,” he said.
“We will await to see the outcome of those talks,” he said.
“In the meantime, we will continue our long-standing practice of supporting a one China policy, maintaining our friendship with the people of Taiwan and seeking to support dialogue across the Strait,” he said.
Asked to enlarge on US relations with China this year — a subject Obama barely mentioned in his State of the Union address on Tuesday — Rhodes said that North Korea and Iran would form “key parts” of the agenda.
He said the trade and economic relationship between the US and China would continue to be “broad and entwined.”
Rhodes also said the US would “initiate a dialogue” with Beijing on cybersecurity and cyberconcerns.
“Maritime security will continue to be an issue,” he said.
“If you take an issue like the South China Sea, the US believes there should not be unilateral actions that seek to change facts on the ground,” he said.
He added that problems should be solved with dialogue and established policies.
A decision to describe a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Singapore’s Taiwan policy as “erroneous” was made because the city-state has its own “one China policy” and has not followed Beijing’s “one China principle,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Tien Chung-kwang (田中光) said yesterday. It has been a longstanding practice for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to speak on other countries’ behalf concerning Taiwan, Tien said. The latest example was a statement issued by the PRC after a meeting between Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) on the sidelines of the APEC summit
Taiwan’s passport ranked 34th in the world, with access to 141 visa-free destinations, according to the latest update to the Henley Passport Index released today. The index put together by Henley & Partners ranks 199 passports globally based on the number of destinations holders can access without a visa out of 227, and is updated monthly. The 141 visa-free destinations for Taiwanese passport holders are a slight decrease from last year, when holders had access to 145 destinations. Botswana and Columbia are among the countries that have recently ended visa-free status for Taiwanese after “bowing to pressure from the Chinese government,” the Ministry
HEALTHCARE: Following a 2022 Constitutional Court ruling, Taiwanese traveling overseas for six months would no longer be able to suspend their insurance Measures allowing people to suspend National Health Insurance (NHI) services if they plan to leave the country for six months would be abolished starting Dec. 23, NHIA Director-General Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said yesterday. The decision followed the Constitutional Court’s ruling in 2022 that the regulation was unconstitutional and that it would invalidate the regulation automatically unless the NHIA amended it to conform with the Constitution. The agency would amend the regulations to remove the articles and sections that allow the suspension of NHI services, and also introduce provisional clauses for those who suspended their NHI services before Dec. 23, Shih said. According to
‘GRAY ZONE’ TACTICS: China continues to build up its military capacity while regularly deploying jets and warships around Taiwan, with the latest balloon spotted on Sunday The US is drawing up contingency plans for military deployments in Japan and the Philippines in case of a Taiwan emergency, Japan’s Kyodo news agency reported. They would be incorporated in a first joint operation plan to be formulated in December, Kyodo reported late on Sunday, citing sources familiar with Japan-US relations. A US Marine Corps regiment that possesses High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems — a light multiple rocket launcher — would be deployed along the Nansei Island chain stretching from Kyushu to Yonaguni near Taiwan, Kyodo said. According to US military guidelines for dispatching marines in small formations to several locations,
RSS