US lifts constraints on contacts with Taiwan
The US is lifting long-standing restrictions on contacts between American and Taiwanese officials, Secretary of Talk about Mike Pompeo says.
The "self-imposed restrictions" were introduced years ago to "appease" the mainland Chinese government, which lays claim to the island, the US state dept. said in a statement.
These rules are actually "null and void".
The move will probably anger China and increase tensions between Washington and Beijing.
It comes mainly because the Trump administration enters its final days and nights ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden just as president in 20 January.
China regards Taiwan as a good breakaway province, but Taiwan's leaders argue that this is a sovereign state.
Relations between your two are actually frayed and there is a constant threat of a good violent flare up that could drag in the US, a great ally of Taiwan.
In a statement on Saturday, Mr Pompeo stated the US state dept. had introduced complicated restrictions limiting the conversation between American diplomats and their Taiwanese counterparts.
"Today I am announcing that I am lifting most of these self-imposed constraints," he said. "Today's statement recognizes that the US-Taiwan relationship do not need to, and should not really, become shackled by self-imposed limitations of our everlasting bureaucracy."
He added that Taiwan was a captivating democracy and a trusted US spouse, and that the constraints were no longer valid.
Following announcement, Taiwan International Minister Joseph Wu thanked Mr Pompeo, saying this individual was "grateful".
"The better partnership between Taiwan and the US is firmly based on our shared values, basic interests and unshakeable belief in freedom and democracy," he wrote in a good tweet.
Last August, US Health insurance and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar became the highest-ranking US politician to hold meetings in the island for decades.
In response, China urged the US to respect what it calls its "one China" principle.
The US also sells arms to Taiwan, though it does not have a formal security treaty with the united states, as it does indeed with Japan, South Korea and the Philippines.
China and Taiwan were divided throughout a civil war found in the 1940s.
Beijing has long tried to limit Taiwan's international activities and both have vied for affect in the Pacific place.
Tensions have increased recently and Beijing hasn't ruled out the consumption of force to take the island back.
Although Taiwan is officially acknowledged by only a small number of nations, its democratically-elected government has strong professional and informal links with various countries.
