China fumes at President Trump for Taiwan-friendly change at State Department: ‘Severe damage’
China on Monday fumed at the Trump administration after the State Department scrubbed a line on its website that said US policy does “not support Taiwan independence.”
Beijing, which claims it to have sovereignty over Taiwan — despite the island having its own government, military and currency — accused Washington of “serious regression” and demanded the US “immediately correct this mistake.
“This move severely violates the one-China principle and three China-US joint communiqués, goes against international law and basic norms of international relations and sends a seriously wrong signal to the separatist forces,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry rep Guo Jiakun to reporters.
“This is another example of the US clinging to its wrong policy of ‘using Taiwan to contain China.’ “
China and Taiwan were separated at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, in which nationalists fled to the island while the communists took over the mainland.
The US agreed to acknowledge the so-called One China Policy and recognize Taiwan as part of China during the normalization of relations between Washington and Beijing in the 1970s under then-President Nixon. As part of that policy, the US is not supposed to have official ties with Taiwan.
But while the US has agreed to the One China Policy on paper, in practice, it has historically shown “strategic ambiguity” on the issue and maintained unofficial ties with Taiwan.
The US statement saying it does “not support Taiwan independence” had been on a State Department fact sheet about the US-Taiwan relationship up until last week.
Taiwan, which has a population of more than 23 million and is just 6.2 miles off the coast of China, cheered the move.
“The U.S. State Department updated the ‘Current State of U.S.-Taiwan Relations’ page … with text that is positive and friendly toward us, reflecting the close and amicable partnership between Taiwan and the United States,” Taiwan’s government told The Associated Press.
A State Department representative told The Post on Monday that the “routine” update of the fact sheet was much ado about nothing.
“The United States remains committed to its One China policy,” the rep said. “The United States is committed to preserving peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.
“We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side.”
US officials have long fretted that China would one day attempt to take control of Taiwan — an area considered crucial for military purposes and also as a trading partner and provider of such items as semiconductors — through force.
Some top US officials have suggested that intelligence indicates Chinese leader Xi Jinping wants his military to be capable of mounting an invasion of Taiwan by 2027. That doesn’t necessarily mean an invasion will take place by then.
US national security experts have also warned that Xi, whose current term ends in 2027, is likely carefully watching how events unfold in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion as he mulls over what to do about Tawain.
Xi has not ruled out the use of military force to regain control of Taipei. China has dubbed Taiwan a “core of core interests.
“We urge the U.S. to immediately correct its wrongdoings … [and] avoid further severe damage to China-U.S. relations and peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,” Guo said Monday.
President Trump has stacked his administration full of officials who want toughter US policies against China, such as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.
