TAIPEI/BEIJING, Dec 3 (Reuters) – Taiwan expressed thanks and China was upset on Wednesday after President Donald Trump signed into law legislation requiring the U.S. State Department to regularly review and update guidelines on how the United States officially interacts with Taipei.
The United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer despite the lack of formal diplomatic ties, and the issue is a constant source of irritation in Sino-U.S. relations given Beijing views the democratically-governed island as its own.
In 2021 under the first Trump administration, then Secretary of State Mike Pompeo lifted restrictions on contacts between U.S. officials and their Taiwanese counterparts, put in place after Washington recognised Beijing in 1979.
The Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, which Trump signed into law on Tuesday, says the U.S. State Department should carry out reviews of contacts with Taiwan no less than once every five years.
The law “affirms the value of U.S. interaction with Taiwan, supports closer Taiwan-U.S. relations, and stands as a firm symbol of our shared values of democracy, freedom, and respect for human rights”, Taiwan Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo said in a statement.
Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung told reporters more frequent reviews of the guidelines would allow Taiwanese officials into federal agencies for meetings, for example, though the legislation does not make explicit mention of this.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said China firmly opposes any form of official contact between the United States and “the Taiwan region of China”.
“The Taiwan question is the core of China’s core interests and the first red line that must not be crossed in China–U.S. relations,” he added.
The United States should exercise “the utmost prudence in handling the Taiwan question, to stop all official interactions between the U.S. and Taiwan, and not to send any wrong signals to ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces”, Lin said.
Taiwan’s government rejects China’s territorial claims and says it has a right to freely engage with countries around the world.
Trump, who met Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea in October, is expected to visit China in April.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Joe Cash; Editing by Michael Perry)
