The News
Beijing issued a strong rebuke of the Trump administration Monday after the US State Department removed the phrase, “we do not support Taiwan independence” — its longheld position on the island — from its website.
China accused Washington of “serious regression” on the issue, pressing the US to “immediately correct its mistakes” over the removal of the line, or risk “further serious damage,” CNN reported.
It remained unclear whether the edit to an online fact sheet reflected a deeper policy shift. The website also added a reference to Taiwan’s technological collaboration with the Pentagon, but maintained opposition to “changes to the status quo” by either Taiwan or China, which sees the island as a breakaway province it will inevitably absorb.
The new language comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Beijing last month that Washington doesn’t back Taiwan’s independence.
Taiwan officials, meanwhile, welcomed the changes.
Taipei has begun to shift its own stance toward the US, with relations becoming more “uncertain and transactional,” The New York Times reported, with fresh promises to boost US investment to avert President Donald Trump’s threatened tariff hikes.