China says US has ‘gravely backpedaled’ on Taiwan

BEIJING — China’s Foreign Ministry took issue Monday with a revised U.S. government fact sheet that removed a line on American opposition to independence for Taiwan.

The United States has “gravely backpedaled” on its position on Taiwan and sent the wrong message to “separatist forces” on the island, ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said.

Taiwan and China split in 1949 during the civil war that brought the communists to power in China. The defeated Nationalists fled to Taiwan and set up a rival government there. Taiwan has its own government and military but has never declared formal independence from China.

“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,” Guo said when asked about the revision at a daily media briefing.

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The Taiwan Strait is a narrow waterway that separates the island of Taiwan from China’s east coast.

The U.S. State Department removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” from the fact sheet last week. The document on America’s relations with the self-governing island is posted on its website.

Taiwan’s government welcomed the move, though a statement sent to The Associated Press on Monday did not mention the language specifically.

“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,” it said.

It’s not the first time the State Department has removed the phrase. It did so in May 2022 but restored it a few weeks later after a strong protest from China.

It’s unclear why the State Department changed the language again and whether it signals any shift in policy under President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House last month.

The government in Taiwan is worried that Trump might not be as steadfast a supporter of the island as his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

The U.S. does not recognize Taiwan as a country but is its strongest backer and biggest arms supplier.

Trump said last week that Taiwan, a leading maker of semiconductors, had taken the chip business away from the U.S. and that he wants it to come back.

China, which says that Taiwan must come under its control, has stepped up military exercises around the island of 23 million people in recent years. The U.S. government fact sheet says that it expects “differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides.”