Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen’s impending stopover in the United States is “consistent with the unofficial nature of our relations with Taiwan,” a State Department spokesman said Monday.
His comments come as the State Department is trying to calm concerns that President-elect Trump angered the Chinese government by having an historic direct phone call with the Taiwanese leader.
“Periodically, [President Tsai Ing-wen] will transit through U.S. territory,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters. “That kind of transit is based on longstanding U.S. practice and it’s consistent with the unofficial nature of our relations with Taiwan. And frankly, they’re done out of consideration, I think, for the safety, comfort, and convenience for the travelers.”
Tsai will stop over in New York next month on her way to Nicaragua.
American support for Taiwan, the last bastion of the regime that was overthrown by Chinese Communists in 1949, has long been a sore spot between the United States and Beijing. In 1979, Congress passed a law establishing that a private, nonprofit organization called the American Institute mediate all contact between the U.S. government and Taiwanese leaders, while the U.S. official stands by the Beijing-favored “One China” policy.
President-elect Trump caused an international stir by speaking with Tsai on Friday. That phone call marked the first known direct communication between the two governments in almost 40 years. China “used established diplomatic channels” to express its displeasure over the call.
“Our response back to them has been that our policy has not changed and its going to remain that way at least for the balance of this administration,” Toner said.
Trump rebuffed criticism of his decision to accept that call by pointing to the longstanding U.S. support for Taiwan. “Interesting how the U.S. sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call,” he tweeted.
Toner emphasized the benefits of the current policy. “It’s allowed us to develop relations frankly, closer relations with Beijing, and also to deepen our unofficial ties with Taipei,” he said. “It’s allowed us, in a sense, to deepen our cooperation with China on many different aspects including economic but certainly security and others. But also, as I said, at the same time, we’re able to still pursue relations with Taipei.”
