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View Full Version : Trump signs U.S.-Taiwan travel bill; China 'strongly dissatisfied'




Swordsmyth
03-16-2018, 10:58 PM
President Donald Trump on Friday signed legislation that encourages the United States to send senior officials to Taiwan to meet Taiwanese counterparts and vice versa, angering China, which views Taiwan as a wayward province.

The move adds to strains between the two countries over trade, as Trump has enacted tariffs and called for China to reduce its huge trade imbalance with the United States, even while Washington has leaned on Beijing to help resolve tensions with North Korea.
Earlier on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated that Beijing was opposed to the legislation and urged the United States to abide by the "one China" policy and cease official exchanges with Taiwan.
In a statement after Trump's signing of the bill, the Chinese embassy said clauses of the legislation "severely violate the one-China principle, the political foundation of the China-U.S. relationship."
"China is strongly dissatisfied with that and firmly opposes it," the statement said, adding that the United States should "stop pursuing any official ties with Taiwan or improving its current relations with Taiwan in any substantive way."
The United States does not have formal ties with Taiwan but is required by law to help it with self-defense and is the island's primary source of weapons.
Douglas Paal, who served as U.S. representative to Taiwan from 2002 to 2006, said the legislation did not change anything real as it was non-binding. U.S. administrations already had discretionary authority to permit visits by senior Taiwanese officials and visits by senior U.S. officials and military officers to Taiwan, he said.
"They don't authorize these trips because the policy judgment is that the costs in relations with China would outweigh the benefits in relations with Taiwan," Paal said.
The bill, which was passed by Congress last month, says it should be U.S. policy to allow visits at all levels. High-level Taiwanese officials should be permitted to enter the United States "under respectful conditions" to meet with U.S. officials, while Taiwanese economic and cultural representatives should be encouraged to conduct business in the United States, according to the bill.

More at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-signs-u-taiwan-travel-bill-china-opposed-213842287.html

goldenequity
03-20-2018, 08:30 AM
Emperor Xi Delivers Stark Warning To Trump: Hands Off Taiwan
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-20/xi-jinping-delivers-stark-warning-trump-hands-taiwan

President Donald Trump may have kicked the hornet's nest by signing on Friday the "Taiwanese Travel Act",
encouraging official visits to Taiwan by officials at all levels with an emphasis on "national security officials."

The signing angered the newly crowned Chinese President Emperor Xi Jinping, who lashed out at Trump and the US during a speech on Tuesday
marking the start of his second term running the world's most populous country.
Xi warned that attempts to sow divisions between China and Taiwan would be "punished by history".


(other articles said the speech implied 'military response' possibility)