President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday praised the “six assurances” then-US president Ronald Reagan made to Taiwan in 1982, saying that the framework has become a “key foundation” for the development of Taiwan-US ties.
Tsai told a visiting delegation from the Washington-based Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute that she has visited the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library twice since taking office in May 2016.
In April, Tsai met with then-US House of Representatives speaker Kevin McCarthy at the library in Simi Valley, California, during a transit stop after a state visit to Belize and Guatemala. She also visited the library in 2018 during another stopover en route to Belize and Paraguay.
Photo: CNA
Those trips had given her a “deeper understanding of president Reagan’s life and ideals,” she told the delegation.
“President Reagan’s six assurances are still a key foundation for the development of Taiwan-US relations,” she said. “They are also a cornerstone for maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
Reagan’s “peace through strength approach” had profoundly influenced Taiwan, Tsai said.
Taiwan is continuing its upgrade of defense capabilities and promoting defense autonomy, she added.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute president and CEO David Trulio quoted Reagan as once saying there are “cultural differences making nations each unique in its own way, but at the same time, I think all are bound together with a common heritage of a love of freedom.”
“We are honored to be here today, representing Ronald Reagan and his timeless values and principles,” Trulio said. “Our delegation trip continues his commitment to the people of Taiwan and continued interest in the ROC [Republic of China].”
The “six assurances” are key foreign policy principles of the US regarding ties with Taipei. They were passed as unilateral US clarifications to the Third Communique between the US and China in 1982.
They are: the US has not agreed to set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan; has not agreed to consult with China on arms sales to Taiwan; and will not play a mediation role between Taipei and Beijing; the US has not agreed to revise the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA); has not altered its position regarding sovereignty over Taiwan; and will not exert pressure on Taiwan to enter into negotiations with China.
The TRA, the three US-China joint communiques and the “six assurances” are guidelines for Washington in dealing with its unofficial relationship with Taipei under its “one China” policy after it ended official diplomatic relations with the ROC in 1979.
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