《TAIPEI TIMES》Taiwan thanks US for warning to governors

The logo of the US Department of State is pictured in Washington on March 8 last year. Photo: CNA

By Huang Chin-hsuan and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taiwan yesterday thanked Washington for addressing state governors in a letter clarifying the US’ policy on Taiwan that denounced Beijing-directed interference aimed at disrupting state-level ties.

The US Department of State, Department of Commerce and Department of Agriculture in a joint letter dated Tuesday last week wrote that the US government regularly receives inquiries from state governments about appropriate conduct regarding outreach to Taiwan.

The letter was published by the American Institute in Taiwan （AIT） on Wednesday.

“Consistent with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US maintains a robust unofficial relationship with Taiwan while also maintaining diplomatic relations with China,” the letter said.

“China’s embassy and consulates regularly contact local government offices to discourage engagement with Taiwan. In doing so, they often mischaracterize US policy by, for example, falsely claiming that Washington has previously accepted Beijing’s specific position on Taiwan.” it said.

“Should your office be contacted by Chinese officials applying pressure, or if you have any questions, we encourage you to contact the Department of State, which stands ready to help state and local governments navigate questions of nomenclature and protocol,” the letter says.

Government efforts to facilitate the expansion of US state ties with Taiwan on trade, education, investment, tourism and other areas are fully compatible with US policy and supported by Washington, it says.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung （林佳龍） yesterday said that Taiwan offers its friends a broad and powerful range of benefits in trade, culture, tourism and societal resilience, as well as robust responses to disease and natural disasters.

Deepening the Taiwan-US relationship would be mutually beneficial to the people of both countries, and Washington’s willingness to cooperate with Taiwan in the face of Chinese pressure shows the importance and firmness of the bilateral partnership, Lin said.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs “highly approves” of Washington’s clear denunciation of Beijing’s meddling in the normal development of Taiwan-US ties, he said.

Statements released at a Global Cooperation and Training Framework meeting in Taipei this week and the G7 summit in France earlier this month underscored that transnational repression is a grave concern to the world’s democracies and sought to tackle the challenge, he said.

Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded partners to improve the resilience of democracies to counter the expansionism and interference operations of authoritarian regimes, Lin said.

North American Affairs Department Director-General Wang Liang-yu （王良玉） told a news conference that the AIT letter marked the fourth time the US federal government clarified its stance on Taiwan to states.

Similar letters were issued in 2019, 2023 and 2024, showing that support for Taiwan is a bipartisan consensus in the US government, Wang said.

The ministry said in a statement that Taiwan is an active member of the global community and a trustworthy partner to fellow democracies.

The nation’s answer to Beijing’s relentless pressure on Taiwan’s economic and diplomatic space is the sincere friendship it offers to its allies, the resilience of its society, and its contributions to the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific region, it said.

Taipei is committed to working with the US federal government, US state governments, private enterprises and groups to facilitate mutually beneficial partnerships and bolster the two countries’ friendship, it said.

Additional reporting by Chung Li-hua 新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES