China Furious After State Dept Changes Line On ‘Taiwan Independence’

China is furious after a State Department fact sheet on Taiwan has been updated. The new updated version has dropped a line which previously stated “we do not support Taiwan independence.”

The State Department has downplayed it as a “routine” update to its online fact sheet on American relations with Taiwan. The change happened last week, but has now triggered a strong rebuke from Beijing, which fears Washington is changing its official long-running policy of not officially endorsing effots toward Taiwan political independence and sovereignty.

The fact sheet still displays a US commitment to ‘One China’ – but still the Chinese Foreign Ministry has on Monday called on the Trump administration to “immediately correct its mistakes” over the removal of the line.

The statement from Beijing warned of “further serious damage” to China-US relations amid a return of Trump’s ‘America First’ policy.

“The US State Department’s revision of the list of facts regarding US-Taiwan relations represents a serious regression in its stance on Taiwan…(and) sends a seriously erroneous message to the separatist forces advocating for Taiwan independence,” ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in a briefing.

“This is further evidence of the US stubbornly adhering to the erroneous policy of using Taiwan to contain China. We urge the US to immediately correct its mistakes,” Guo added, and emphasized Trump must handle the Taiwan issue with “utmost caution.”

As for the updated State Dept. page, it states that “We continue to have an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side.”

“We expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the strait.”

But again, Beijing is saying this marks a “serious regression” even as the US administration shrugs off the change. Yet in recent history, even the slightest changes or updates in policy seen as anti-China typically results in swift rebuke from Beijing.

The prior version of the fact sheet was more robust in distancing the US from an open policy of encouraging the independence of Taiwan from China.

The fact sheet just as of less than a week ago said the US opposed “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.”

Rubio’s State Department has changed the content of its fact-sheet on Taiwan from the previous administration:

While still opposing “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side,” it has dropped the phrase “we don’t support Taiwan independence”

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China’s PLA military has been once again ramping up flights and drills around the self-ruled island. For example, on Sunday 24 Chinese military aircraft flew near the island, also as a Canadian warship passed through the contested Taiwan Strait. PLA drones were also spotted conducting “joint combat readiness patrols” with military vessels around Taiwan, which the Taiwanese defense ministry confirmed. Last week, the US sent a pair of warships through the strait for the first time of the new Trump administration.