US lifts curbs on Taiwan relations

Washington, Jan. 10: The United States is ending restrictions governing official contacts with Taiwan, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Saturday, a move hailed by Taipei as ending “decades of discrimination”.

Pompeo said the “complex internal restrictions” on contacts with Taipei by diplomats, service members and others had been imposed “in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing.”

Pompeo added, “No more.” The declaration may be more symbolic than substantive in effect, but it nonetheless appears certain to anger China, which sees Taiwan as its own territory.

Taiwan’s government welcomed the move.

“Decades of discrimination, removed,” tweeted Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan’s diplomatic envoy to the States. “A huge day in our bilateral relationship. I will cherish every opportunity.” Foreign minister Joseph Wu said he was grateful Pompeo had lifted “restrictions unnecessarily limiting our engagements”.

“The closer partnership between Taiwan and the US is firmly based on our shared values, common interests and unshakeable belief in freedom and democracy,” he added.

It comes in the final weeks of the Donald Trump administration, and at a time of already heightened tensions between Beijing and both Washington and Taipei.

It was not clear what the change means in practice, with Pompeo saying executive branch communications with Taiwan will be handled by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), which is owned by the US government and serves as the de facto embassy. The shift comes after a year of mounting US-Chinese tensions.