Washington’s commitment to Taiwan remains strong, says US ‘ambassador’
- Brent Christensen, the head of the de facto US embassy, says Washington still regards the pledge to help the island defence itself as key to their relationship
- Diplomat says America ‘strongly opposes’ Beijing’s efforts to change the status quo and ‘bully’ its neighbours
“Our obligation to support Taiwan in maintaining a sufficient self-defence capability against coercion remains a foundational element of the Taiwan Relations Act,” Brent Christensen, director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy, told an online news conference on Wednesday.
Christensen, who will leave Taipei this summer after a three-year term, said two recently declassified documents – one on arms supplies for Taiwan and the other on six assurances to underscore Washington’s commitments to the island – would remain “primary source documents that guide our cross-strait policy”.
Taiwan and the United States do not have formal relations, but Washington, which switched diplomatic recognition to Beijing from Taipei in 1979, has maintained close and substantive ties with Taipei since then. The Taiwan Relations Act cited by Christensen commits Washington to supplying arms to help the island defend itself.
Beijing – which regards Taiwan as an inalienable part of China and has repeatedly protested against US arms supplies to the island – has never renounced the use of force to reunite it with the mainland.
Relations under Washington and Taipei have become closer in recent years, especially during Donald Trump’s presidency, which saw the rivalry with mainland China intensify.