Relations with US ‘rock solid’, Taiwan President says after Trump-Xi call
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Taiwan's President Lai Ching-te said Taiwan and the US have strong channels of communication.
PHOTO: REUTERS
TAIPEI – Relations between Taiwan and the US are “rock solid” and cooperation programmes will continue unchanged, Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te said on Feb 5 after Chinese leader Xi Jinping discussed the democratically governed island with US President Donald Trump.
In the Feb 4 call, Mr Xi told Mr Trump that the US should “carefully” handle arms sales to the island that Beijing views as its own territory.
Speaking to reporters in central Taiwan, Mr Lai said Taiwan and the US have strong channels of communication.
“Taiwan-US relations are rock solid; all cooperation programmes will continue and will not change,” Mr Lai said, adding that US commitments to Taiwan also remain unchanged.
The fact that Taiwan is not part of the People’s Republic of China also remains unchanged, he added.
The US, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is the island’s most important international backer and is bound by law to provide it with the means to defend itself.
In December, the Trump administration announced US$11.1 billion (S$14.1 billion) in arms sales to Taiwan, the largest-ever US weapons package for the island.
China refuses to speak to Mr Lai and calls him a “separatist”. Mr Lai has said that only Taiwan’s people can decide their future. REUTERS
