The United States assured Tuesday May 10 that its policy towards Taiwan had not changed, after the updating of a "
technical sheet
" which aroused the anger of China because it no longer asserts black on white that Washington "
does not support the independence
" of the island.
“
There is no change to our policy.
We just updated a fact sheet, it's something we do on a regular basis about all of our relationships around the world
,” US Foreign Affairs spokesman Ned Price said.
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He called on China "
to show responsibility and not to create pretexts to increase pressure on Taiwan
", he added to the press.
The fact sheet on the US State Department website was updated last week.
It confirms that the United States has a long-standing policy of a "one
China
", based in particular on the joint American-Chinese communiqués which date back to the time when Washington established official diplomatic relations with Communist China to the detriment from Taiwan.
The old version of this sheet explicitly reproduced passages from the joint press release of 1979,
do not support the independence
" of the island.
Chinese diplomacy spokesman Zhao Lijian said US President Joe Biden needed to walk the talk to "
deeds
" to show they oppose Taipei's independence.
“
The latest modification of the American data sheet is a trick to hide and dilute the principle of a single China
,” he protested to journalists.
“
Such political manipulation on the Taiwan issue and the attempt to alter the status quo across the Taiwan Strait will harm the United States itself
,” he added.
However, the American government affirms for its part that it fears that it is Beijing, which considers the island as being part of its territory to be taken back one day, by force if necessary, which is increasingly tempted to upset this status quo.
Although Washington has diplomatically recognized Beijing since 1979 and no longer Taipei, American support for Taiwan has never ceased.
The United States, which willingly salutes
Taiwanese “
democracy ” by contrasting it with what it deems to be a Chinese “
autocracy
”, remains Taiwan's most important partner and arms supplier.