WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced Saturday that the State Department is invalidating long-standing restrictions on the way US diplomats and others interact with their counterparts in Taiwan, another move expected to upset China now the Trump administration is coming to an end.
The Trump administration has sought to strengthen bilateral relations with Taiwan. It announced on Thursday that UN Ambassador Kelly Craft would be traveling to Taiwan, a move that sparked sharp criticism from Beijing and a warning that the US would pay a heavy price. In August, Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, became the first cabinet member to visit Taiwan since 2014.
Pompeo said the State Department has put in place complex restrictions when it comes to contacts between the two parties. He said those actions were taken to appease the communist regime in Beijing.
“Not anymore,” Pompeo stated in a statement. “Today I announce that I am lifting all these self-imposed restrictions.”
The Chinese government claims that mainland China and Taiwan are part of “one China”. China has stepped up its threats to bring the self-governing island of military power under its control with regular war games and air patrols. It has used its diplomatic power to dissuade Taiwan from joining organizations that require a state for membership.
Pompeo said the US has relationships with unofficial partners around the world, and Taiwan is no exception.
“Our two democracies share common values of individual freedom, the rule of law and respect for human dignity,” Pompeo said. “Today’s statement recognizes that the relationship between the US and Taiwan need not be and should not be shackled by self-imposed constraints of our permanent bureaucracy.”
Taiwanese Foreign Minister Joseph Wu welcomed the move.
“I am grateful to @SecPompeo & @StateDept for lifting the restrictions that have unnecessarily limited our commitments in recent years,” Wu said in a retweet of a Pompeo tweet about the announcement.
“The closer partnership between #Taiwan and the #US is firmly based on our shared values, common interests and unshakable belief in freedom and democracy,” he wrote, distinguishing China’s authoritarian one-party state.