Policy on Taiwan unchanged by Tsai's public address: U.S. official

ROC Central News Agency

2018/08/15 14:22:56

Washington, Aug. 14 (CNA) Heather Nauert, spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, said Tuesday that Washington's policy toward Taiwan has not changed, after being asked to comment on a public address made by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) Monday during a stopover in Los Angeles en route to Paraguay.

Nauert said: "Our policy on Taiwan has not changed. The United States remains committed to our U.S. 'one China' policy based on three joint communiques under the Taiwan Relations Act."

"The United States, in regard to this trip, facilitates from time to time representatives of the Taiwan authorities to transit the United States. Those are largely undertaken out of consideration for the safety and comfort of those travelers and that is in keeping with our 'one China' policy," the spokesperson added.

Asked if the U.S. government would be happy for President Tsai to transit and speak in Washington, D.C., the spokesperson declined to respond to the hypothetical scenario.

The president of Taiwan delivered a public address at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library on Monday, on a stopover en route to Paraguay and Belize, two of Taiwan's 18 diplomatic allies, during her nine-day overseas trip which started on Sunday.

That was her first public address in the U.S. since she took office as president.

Tsai left the U.S. Monday evening and arrived in Paraguay for a three-day trip in the South American country the following day. According to the Taiwan Presidential Office, she will attend the inauguration of President-elect Mario Abdo Benitez in Paraguay Wednesday.

On Thursday, Tsai will head to Belize where she will stay for three days, after which she is scheduled to stopover in Houston on Saturday for about 27 hours, before returning to Taiwan late on Aug. 20.

(By Chiang Chin-yeh and Hsu Hsiao-ling)
Enditem/AW