Taiwan praises US State Department change on independence phrase

Bloomberg News on Feb 16, 2025

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Taiwan praised the State Department for removing a phrase from a fact sheet saying the U.S. does “not support Taiwan independence,” an episode that threatens to renew sparring between Washington and Beijing over the self-ruled archipelago.

Taiwanese Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung “welcomes the support and positive stance” showed by the explainer on Taiwan-U.S. relations, his ministry said in a statement received on Monday. Taipei also thanks Washington for its “continued compliance” with a 1979 law that lays out relations between the U.S. and Taiwan, including provisions for military support.

The remarks came after the State Department updated the webpage to remove the phrase, which Beijing frequently asks nations it has diplomatic ties with to endorse. The page was last changed on Feb. 13. The fact sheet still says that the U.S. has “an abiding interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait” and that it would “oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side.”

The State Department didn’t respond to request for comment outside working hours. China’s Foreign Ministry Ministry didn’t immediately reply to a similar request.

The episode underscores the complicated position Taiwan holds in the relationship between China and the U.S., which is already fraught over issues such as trade, technology transfers and human rights issues. Beijing has pledged to bring Taiwan under its control someday, by force if that’s what it takes. Washington is Taipei’s biggest military backer, though Trump has suggested the archipelago should have to pay for protection. Taiwan’s trade surplus with the U.S. has also raised concern in Taipei that the U.S. leader will hit exports with tariffs.

A spokesperson for the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S.’s representative office in Taipei, said the fact sheet was “updated to inform the general public about our unofficial relationship with Taiwan.” Washington “remains committed to its one-China policy” and “peace and stability” in the strait, AIT said in the statement.

In May 2022, the Biden administration reinstated the line about not backing Taiwan independence after its removal triggered an outburst from Beijing.

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(With assistance from María Paula Mijares Torres.)