Taiwan welcomes lifting of U.S. restrictions on official contact
ROC Central News Agency
01/10/2021 06:02 PM
Taipei, Jan. 10 (CNA) Taiwan's Presidential Office on Sunday hailed the United States' decision to remove the restrictions on contact between officials of the two countries, saying it was a reflection of the solid partnership between the two countries.
The announcement by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday that Washington was lifting the restrictions in a bid to regularize interactions between American and Taiwanese officials symbolized the strong partnership ties between Taiwan and the U.S., Presidential Office spokesman Xavier Chang (張惇涵) said.
Taiwan thanks the U.S. State Department and all Americans whose longstanding support helped facilitate smooth cooperation in the political, economic and security fields between the two countries and helped foster the current close and friendly bilateral relationship, Chang said.
The mutual trust and ties between Taiwan and the U.S. have grown over the past few years, due in large part to Taipei's consistent foreign policy, which promotes stable development of international relations and a prudent and responsible approach, Chang said.
Taiwan will continue to seek bipartisan support in the U.S. and deeper cooperation and partnership, he said, after Pompeo announced the lifting of the restrictions on contact between American and Taiwanese officials, which had been in place since Washington cut ties with Taipei in favor of Beijing in 1979.
"Executive branch agencies should consider all 'contact guidelines' regarding relations with Taiwan previously issued by the Department of State under authorities delegated to the Secretary of State to be null and void," Pompeo said in a statement Saturday.
In response, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday that Taiwan and the U.S. have shared core values such as freedom, democracy and human rights and they have established cooperation and joint partnership relations in the international arena over the past few years.
Building on the foundation of mutual trust, Taiwan will continue to promote and deepen its relationship with the U.S., the ministry said.
Meanwhile, Legislator Lo Chih-cheng (羅致政) of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said the U.S. decision was the most significant since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979, which governs the U.S.' unofficial ties with Taiwan.
He said the U.S.' "contact guidelines" that restricted interactions between agencies of the two countries' executive branches had been put in place to appease China while maintaining unofficial relations with Taiwan but had limited the development of the Taiwan-U.S. relationship.
With the U.S.' removal of its self-imposed restrictions, there are now greater possibilities for official interactions between the two countries, Lo added.
In a statement issued Sunday, the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) said that while the Pompeo's announcement was good news, the key question was whether the policy would be retained by the incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Joe Biden.
Taiwan's foreign policy should be grounded in the protection of its national interests, the KMT said, and the party will uphold that policy.
It will push the DPP government to pursue an independent foreign policy, based on the principles of equity and reciprocity, and to respond pragmatically to changes in the trilateral relations with the U.S. and China to prevent Taiwan from becoming a pawn, the KMT said.
(By Yeh Su-ping, Matt Yu, Wang Cheng-chung and Evelyn Kao)
Enditem/pc
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