US Removes "Does Not Support Taiwan Independence" Phrase... Taiwan Views It as "Pressure on China"

Some Interpret That "The U.S. Position Has Not Fundamentally Changed"

Taiwan experts have weighed in on the U.S. Department of State's removal of the phrase "does not support Taiwan independence" from its website. While there was no disagreement with the analysis that this move was intended to pressure China, interpretations diverged when assessing the significance of this action.

According to Taiwan media outlets including Central News Agency (CNA) and United Daily News on the 17th, the U.S. Department of State updated the "Fact Sheet on U.S. Relations with Taiwan" on its official website on the 13th by deleting the phrase "we do not support Taiwan independence." Instead, it explained that "differences in cross-strait positions should be resolved peacefully without coercion and must be acceptable to the people on both sides."

Chen Sumin, Associate Professor of Political Science at National Taiwan University, told CNA in an interview that "the U.S. 'One China Policy' stance is not necessarily related to the issue of Taiwan independence," and interpreted it as "(Taiwan independence) is a matter for the Taiwanese people to decide themselves, and the U.S. is conveying to the international community that it will not decide on Taiwan's behalf."

Wang Hongren, Professor of Political Science at National Cheng Kung University, also said, "The deletion of the phrase 'does not support Taiwan independence' is a significant goodwill gesture by the U.S. toward Taiwan," and evaluated it as "conveying the Trump administration's position on Taiwan's international status and sending a strong message to China."

On the other hand, Huang Zijeng, Chairman of the Taiwan Strategy and Armament Research Association, told United Daily News that "the U.S. position has fundamentally not changed." He added, "Taiwan does not need to be happy or disappointed over a single U.S. policy document," and said, "The key is what we recognize as 'peace and stability.'"

The day before, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement welcoming the U.S. Department of State's deletion of the phrase, saying it "welcomes the positive stance and expression of support regarding U.S.-Taiwan relations." The U.S. Department of State stated "the update was made to inform the general public about the unofficial relationship with Taiwan," and "the United States remains committed to the One China Policy." China criticized, "The U.S. Department of State seriously regressed on the Taiwan issue by revising the fact sheet on relations with Taiwan."