A fact sheet on Taiwan-U.S. relations posted on the United States Department of State website
on May 5 removed previous statements saying that Washington acknowledged Beijing's "one
China" position and did not support Taiwanese independence. The update was made by the
department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. The previous version of the document
opened with the statement: "The United States and Taiwan enjoy a robust unofficial
relationship." It said the U.S. acknowledged "the Chinese position that there is but one China
and Taiwan is part of China," and that the U.S. "does not support Taiwan independence." In
the updated version, however, the acknowledgement of China's position and the U.S. position
on Taiwan independence has been removed, and the document now opens with: "As a leading
democracy and a technological powerhouse, Taiwan is a key U.S. partner in the Indo-Pacific."
The new version still acknowledged that the Taiwan-U.S. relationship is unofficial, and added
that the U.S. "has a longstanding one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations
Act, the three US-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances."
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