Taiwan thanks US for supporting cross-strait peace

Washington and Beijing separately announced late Saturday that Sullivan and China's top diplomat Wang, who is also a Chinese Communist Party politburo member and director of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission, had met in Bangkok on Friday and Saturday.

Both sides said that the round of talks was meant to follow up on the Woodside Summit held between President Joe Biden and President Xi Jinping last November.

The Central News Agency said in its report that the talks were part of an effort "to maintain open lines of communication and responsibly manage competition in the relationship as directed by the leaders," the White House said in its statement.

According to the White House readout, Sullivan stressed that although the two world powers "are in competition, both countries need to prevent it from veering into conflict or confrontation."

Both sides spoke about a range of areas of cooperation that had also been discussed at the Woodside Summit, including issues related to Russia's war against Ukraine, the Middle East, North Korea, the South China Sea, and Burma.

Regarding the cross-strait issue, Sullivan "underscored the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait," according to the readout.

A separate press statement issued by China's foreign ministry, meanwhile, said Wang stressed during the two-day meeting that "the Taiwan question is China's internal affair, and the election in the Taiwan region cannot change the basic fact that Taiwan is part of China," referring to the presidential and legislative elections held in Taiwan on Jan. 13.

"'Taiwan independence' poses the biggest risk to cross-strait peace and stability and the biggest challenge to China-U.S. relations," Wang warned Sullivan during the Bangkok meeting, according to the Chinese press release.

"The U.S. side must abide by the one-China principle and the three China-U.S. Joint Communiques, translate its commitment of not supporting 'Taiwan independence' into action and support China's peaceful reunification," it added.

In response, Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) on Sunday thanked the U.S. side for reiterating its support for cross-strait peace and stability.

MOFA also denounced Wang's remarks during the Bangkok meeting that "the Taiwan question is China's internal affair."

In its statement, MOFA reiterated that the Republic of China (Taiwan) is a sovereign and independent country and that neither the ROC nor the People's Republic of China (PRC) is subordinate to the other, Central News Agency Taiwan reported.

These facts and the status quo have long been recognized by the international community, with Taiwan's January 13 presidential election marking yet another demonstration of its "mature and healthy democracy" that received widespread international acclaim and congratulations from more than 100 countries around the globe, MOFA said.

"No distorted narrative on Taiwan's sovereign status by China can alter the fact nor the status quo," it added.

On Jan. 13, Vice President Lai Ching-te of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won Taiwan's presidential election, helped by a split of the opposition vote that gave him a victory despite not receiving an absolute majority of the ballots cast.

With Lai's victory, the DPP has made history as the first political party in Taiwan to win three consecutive terms since the first direct presidential election was held in 1996. (ANI)