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Washington [US], December 4 (ANI/Sputnik): The United States and the European Union are interested in deepening cooperation with Taiwan based on the "one-China" policy and maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, US and EU senior diplomats said in a joint statement on Friday.
"Deputy Secretary of State Wendy R. Sherman and European External Action Service Secretary-General Stefano Sannino led the first US-EU high-level consultations on the Indo-Pacific on December 3 in Washington," the statement said. "They reconfirmed their interest in stability and the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, and both sides noted a shared interest in deepening cooperation with Taiwan consistent with their respective 'one-China' policies." Both, the United States and the European Union reaffirm the centrality of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Indo-Pacific region that should remain open and free, the statement said. Taiwan has been ruled independently from China since 1949. China views the island as its province, while the island authorities maintain that it is an autonomous country. The United States has boosted cooperation with Taiwan in recent years, while China has strengthened the deployment of fighter jets into Taiwan's air defence identification zone. Taiwan topped the agenda of the video meeting between the US and Chinese presidents last month. President Xi Jinping issued a stern warning to his US counterpart over the self-ruled island, which Beijing saw as a renegade province. On Tuesday, the United States unveiled a list of 110 countries invited to attend a democracy summit in December. The list did not include China but included Taiwan. (ANI/Sputnik)
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