US drops website wording on not supporting Taiwan independence

TAIPEI: The US State Department has removed a statement on its website that it does not support Taiwan independence, among changes that the island’s government praised on Sunday as supporting Taiwan.

The fact sheet on Taiwan retains Washington’s opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own. But as well as dropping the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence”, the page has added a reference to Taiwan’s cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project and says the US will support Taiwan’s membership in international organisations “where applicable”.

The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its strongest international backer, bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

“We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side,” the State Department website reads in the update posted on Thursday. “We expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the (Taiwan) Strait.”