• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Taiwan maintains close contacts with U.S. on Trump-Xi summit: MAC

ROC Central News Agency

2017/04/06 22:00:22

Taipei, April 6 (CNA) Taiwan is in close contact with the United States on the upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, a spokesman for the Council of Mainland Affairs (MAC) said on Thursday.

"The government will keep in close contact with the United States and respond properly to possible future developments at the Trump-Xi meeting in order to safeguard the interests and dignity of the Republic of China (Taiwan)," said Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正).

Chiu also urged Washington to uphold the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) and its six assurances to Taiwan, while calling on Beijing to appreciate the results of exchanges and interactions between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait over the past few years, respect cross-strait reality, handle cross-strait issues in a positive manner and seek to settle differences through dialogue and communication.

The TRA 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 TRA also requires the U.S. "to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character."

The six assurances, which were given to Taiwan in 1982 by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, include pledges not to set a date for ending arms sales to Taiwan, not to hold prior consultations with China regarding arms sales to Taiwan and not to play the role of mediator between Taiwan and China.

They also include assurances that the U.S. will not revise the TRA, alter its position on Taiwan's sovereignty, or pressure Taiwan to enter into negotiations with China.

Referring to the Trump-Xi meeting, Chiu predicted that the discussions would focus mainly on future U.S-China ties, the establishment of a bilateral interaction mechanism and framework of cooperation, as well as important regional issues.

Trump is scheduled to host Xi for a summit on Thursday and Friday at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

This will be their first meeting since Trump took office in January.

(By Miao Chung-han and Romulo Huang)
Enditem/AW