The government yesterday thanked US President Joe Biden for asserting during his virtual meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that the US’ policy Taiwan remains unchanged while highlighting his commitment to supporting the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait.
The two leaders on Monday discussed a range of issues where their interests align or diverge, a statement from the White House said.
“On Taiwan, President Biden underscored that the United States remains committed to the ‘one China’ policy, guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances, and that the United States strongly opposes unilateral efforts to change the status quo or undermine peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” it said.
Photo: Lin Cheng-kung, Taipei Times
In Taipei, Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) reiterated the “four commitments” that President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) laid out in her Double Ten National Day address.
The four commitments are that the nation will adhere to a free and democratic constitutional system; that the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other; that the nation will resist annexation or encroachment upon its sovereignty; and that the nation’s future must be decided in accordance with the will of the Taiwanese people.
“Maintaining the status quo is our stance, and we will do our utmost to prevent the status quo from being unilaterally changed,” Chang said in a statement.
Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded countries to contribute to peace, stability and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region, he added.
“We hope that China, as a member of the region, will shoulder the same responsibility as well,” he said.
Prior to the meeting, US officials had briefed their Taiwanese counterparts about it and promised to provide more details after the meeting as usual, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a news briefing in Taipei yesterday.
Asked about media reports that senior Taiwanese and US officials are to hold “Pol-Mil Talks” and Defense Review Talks (DRTs) in Washington this week, Ou said the ministry could not reveal details of bilateral interactions, but added that Taipei and Washington maintain multilayered and various channels for communication.
The Pol-Mil Talks and DRTs were to take place yesterday and today in the wake of the Biden-Xi meeting, the Chinese-language United Daily News (UDN) reported on Monday.
Both talks are annual conversation platforms between the two nations, but this would be the first time they would be convened at the same time, UDN said.
Taiwan is to be represented by National Security Council Deputy Secretary-General Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Tseng (曾厚仁), who are to meet US Assistant Secretary of Bureau of Political Military Affairs Jessica Lewis and US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner, it said.
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