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In debut press event, U.S. envoy reaffirms commitment to Taiwan

ROC Central News Agency

10/29/2021 05:18 PM

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) The de facto American ambassador to Taiwan has reaffirmed Washington's commitment to help Taipei defend itself, but offered few details on hot button bilateral issues in her first press conference since assuming office this summer.

Sandra Oudkirk, the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan's (AIT) Taipei office, said Friday that the United States considers peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait "central to the security and stability of the broader Indo Pacific region and to the U.S."

"Our commitment to Taiwan is rock solid and contributes to the maintenance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the region," she said.

Asked specifically about President Joe Biden's recent pledge to defend Taiwan in case of a Chinese attack, Oudkirk said there has been no change in U.S. policy.

The U.S., she said, will continue to help Taiwan boost its self-defense capability as part of America's commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which has served as the cornerstone of U.S.-Taiwan relations since official diplomatic ties were severed in 1979.

"We engage with our partners in Taiwan on a routine basis to access vulnerability, to access ways we can support Taiwan in mounting its own self defense," she said, without elaborating.

She also did not offer details on steps taken by the U.S. to help Taiwan counter threats from the People's Republic of China (PRC) or on the presence of American troops in Taiwan as disclosed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in an interview with CNN aired Thursday.

Tsai told CNN that Taiwan had "a wide range of cooperation with the U.S. aiming at increasing our defense capability," but she did not specify how many American service members were sent to Taiwan, saying only that the number was "not as many as people thought."

International media reported earlier this month that the U.S. has been rotating a small number of U.S. Marines and Special Operations Forces on the island to train with the Taiwanese military, amid rising tensions across the Taiwan Strait.

At a legislative meeting Thursday morning, however, Defense Minister Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) denied that U.S. troops had been deployed to Taiwan, describing U.S. military personnel as being in Taiwan for military training "exchanges" with their Taiwanese counterparts.

In her interview, Tsai also expressed faith that Washington would help Taiwan defend against a Chinese attack, days after Biden pledged to do so during a CNN town hall event.

The White House later issued a clarification stating that U.S. policy toward Taiwan -- which Beijing claims as its territory, to be taken by force if necessary － remained unchanged, a stance Oudkirk echoed Friday.

Oudkirk assumed office as AIT Taipei director in July, succeeding Brent Christensen.

The seasoned diplomat previously served as a consular officer at the AIT, the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan due to the absence of diplomatic relations, from 1992 to 1994, and has most recently served as a deputy assistant secretary of state.

Oudkirk also was asked about an upcoming referendum aimed at overturning the decision by Taiwan's government to allow pork imports from the U.S. that contain residue of the controversial livestock drug ractopamine.

She would not comment on the referendum and its possible outcome, but stressed that the U.S. is watching it closely and that the U.S. respects the democratic process in Taiwan.

Oudkirk reiterated the U.S. stance that it has a "rigorous and reliable food safety inspection" system in place for agricultural products exported overseas.

"I eat American pork, feed it to my children. It's safe, its tasty, its delicious, I would encourage Taiwan consumers to do the same thing," she said.

She would not say if she mentioned U.S. concerns on the issue to Eric Chu (朱立倫), chairman of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), during their meeting earlier this month. The KMT initiated the referendum question, which will be put to a nationwide vote on Dec. 18.

Oudkirk said she and Chu touched on a wide range of issues but that she would not make public a private conversation.

Tsai announced in August 2020 that Taiwan would allow in pork from the U.S. containing ractopmaine starting in January, in an apparent effort to clear the way for a trade deal between Taipei and Washington.

Ractopamine is currently banned for use in pigs in Taiwan as well as in the European Union and China because of concerns over its safety to both animals and humans, but the U.S. has long criticized Taiwan's zero-tolerance policy on ractopamine in pork as an impediment to trade.

In part as a protest against the policy, the U.S. had not held formal talks on trade with Taiwan through the bilateral Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) since October 2016 until they resumed this June.

Critics of the decision have argued that it fails to prioritize the health of Taiwanese or the interests of local pig farmers, despite government reassurances.

(By Joseph Yeh)

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