Taipei is thankful to the United States for lifting curbs on ties with Taiwan and hopes to "elevate" relations with Washington, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Monda
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th January, 2021) Taipei is thankful to the United States for lifting curbs on ties with Taiwan and hopes to "elevate" relations with Washington, Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Monday.
On Saturday, US State Secretary Mike Pompeo announced that the country was lifting "self-imposed restrictions" on relations with Taipei.
"This is an important thing in terms of elevating Taiwan-US relations. The Foreign Ministry welcomes this and expresses gratitude. We also want to thank the US Congress members who have always pushed for loosening and lifting related restrictions," Wu told reporters, commenting on the decision.
In a separate development, the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry released a new version of the e-passport on Monday with the word "Taiwan" on the front cover instead of "the Republic of China."
The US, along with many other countries, does not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation and officially sticks to the "One China" policy. Nevertheless, Washington has kept informal relations with the island after severing diplomatic ties with it in 1979. China, which views Taiwan as its breakaway province, is uneasy over its cooperation with Washington, especially in defense.
The outgoing Donald Trump administration has ramped up arms sales to Taiwan and sent a number of senior diplomats for visits.
