China’s Foreign Ministry expressed strong disapproval Monday over a revised U.S. government fact sheet that removed a key phrase opposing Taiwan’s independence. Beijing accused Washington of reversing its stance and sending the wrong message to pro-independence forces on the self-governing island.
“The United States has gravely backpedaled on its position on Taiwan and sent the wrong message to separatist forces,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun during a daily media briefing. “We urge the U.S. to … stop emboldening and supporting Taiwan independence and avoid further damaging China-U.S. relations and the peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait.”
Taiwan and China split in 1949 following the civil war that brought the Communist Party to power. The defeated Nationalists retreated to Taiwan, establishing a separate government. While Taiwan has its own administration and military, it has never formally declared independence from China.
The controversy arose after the U.S. State Department last week removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” from its online fact sheet outlining relations with Taiwan.
Taiwan’s government welcomed the change but did not explicitly address the language shift. “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has noted that the U.S. State Department updated the ‘Current State of U.S.-Taiwan Relations’ page … with text that is positive and friendly toward us, reflecting the close and amicable partnership between Taiwan and the United States,” a statement sent to The Associated Press said.
This is not the first time the State Department has made such an adjustment. A similar change in May 2022 was reversed weeks later after Beijing’s strong opposition. It remains unclear why the Biden administration removed the phrase again and whether this signals a broader policy shift under President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House last month.
The Taiwan government has expressed concerns that Trump may not be as firm a supporter of the island as his predecessor, Joe Biden. While the U.S. does not officially recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation, it remains the island’s strongest backer and largest arms supplier.
Trump recently commented on Taiwan’s dominance in semiconductor manufacturing, stating that the island had taken the chip business from the U.S. and that he aims to bring it back. Meanwhile, China has intensified its military activities around Taiwan, reaffirming its stance that the island must come under its control.
The U.S. government fact sheet maintains that it expects “differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides.”
