Taiwan tells US it does not want to cause trouble in Taiwan Strait
Envoy says he had good exchanges with US President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on sidelines of Apec summit in Da Nang
PUBLISHED : Monday, 13 November, 2017, 4:10pm
UPDATED : Monday, 13 November, 2017, 10:14pm
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Taiwan has assured the United States it has no intention of causing trouble in the Taiwan Strait, the self-ruled island’s envoy to a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders said on Monday.
The comments by James Soong Chu-yu came after he said in the Vietnamese city of Da Nang on the weekend that he had good exchanges with both US President Donald Trump and US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson during informal moments between summit events.
Taiwan should be wary of the poisoned chalice of military exchanges with the US
“We don’t want to create trouble in the Taiwan Strait, and lead the US, China and Japan, and all observers, to think we are a troublemaker. The whole world doesn’t hope for Taiwan to be a troublemaker,” Soong said in response to a question on his interactions with Trump and Tillerson.
“We hope to use peaceful means to solve relevant problems.”
Soong also said he had a “natural interaction” with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Taiwan keen to avoid becoming a bargaining chip between US and China during Trump’s Asia visit
Relations between Beijing and Taipei have nosedived since Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen was elected last year. Beijing believes she wants formal independence for Taiwan, which is a red line for the mainland.
For her part, Tsai said she wanted to maintain peace with China but would defend Taiwan’s democracy and security.
Beijing has suspended a regular dialogue mechanism with Taipei since Tsai came to power and stepped up military exercises around the island. It has also increased diplomatic pressure by winning over another two of the island’s dwindling number of diplomatic allies.
Taiwan president making state visits amid Beijing stalemate
Soong, who is chairman of the Beijing-friendly People First Party, said at the summit that Tsai had repeatedly talked about seeking peaceful relations and stability with the mainland.
This month, Xi told Trump in Beijing that Taiwan was the most important and sensitive issue in Sino-US ties.
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: Taiwan not regional troublemaker, Taipei tells US
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