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Tsai feels Trump will maintain U.S. security commitment to Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

2016/11/21 19:38:11

Taipei, Nov. 21 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said Monday that she believes the United States' new government will continue to carry out its security commitment to Taiwan and that the two nations will continue to work closely together in several areas.

Speaking to a group of visiting U.S. congressmen, Tsai expressed her belief that the new American government and Congress elected on Nov. 8 will stick to the U.S.'s past commitments based on the Taiwan Relations Act and the "Six Assurances."

She also felt that the U.S. will continue to maintain close security, economic and cultural interactions with Taiwan and repeated Taiwan's pledge to make economic and safety contributions in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Taiwan may be in a difficult situation in the international community, but it will do its utmost to make concrete contributions to the world," Tsai told the visiting delegation, led by Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas.

The Taiwan Relations Act was enacted in 1979 to maintain commercial, cultural and other unofficial relations between the U.S. and Taiwan after Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing.

The "Six Assurances" were given in 1982 under the administration of late U.S. President Ronald Reagan. They include the U.S. pledges not to set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, not to hold prior consultations with China on arms sales to Taiwan, and not to play any mediation role between Taipei and Beijing.

The assurances also refer to the pledges not to revise the Taiwan Relations Act, not to alter the U.S. position regarding Taiwan's sovereignty, and not to exert pressure on Taiwan to enter into negotiations with China.

Taiwan, which faces a military threat from China, has been concerned about the U.S.'s stance toward cross-Taiwan Strait affairs since billionaire Donald Trump won the presidential election on Nov. 8.

Tsai's predecessor, Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who was in office from 2008 to 2016, also said he was not concerned that the Trump administration will change the U.S.'s Taiwan policy that has been followed by six U.S. presidents, starting with Jimmy Carter.

At an Asian Leadership Forum held at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, Ma said he did not believe Trump would change course.

Judging from history, "this is the only way to maintain peace in the Taiwan Strait," Ma said while answering questions at the forum.

Ma flew to Chicago on Nov. 18 for the Sunday forum, in which he delivered a speech on Taiwan's new role in Asia and the world. He was invited by the University of Notre Dame's Liu Institute for Asia and Asian Studies to give the speech.

It is Ma's first U.S. trip to the U.S. since the conclusion of his two-term tenure in May. He will return to Taiwan on Nov. 23.

(By Lu Hsin-hui, Tony Liao and Elizabeth Hsu)
ENDITEM/ls