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Today, Friday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will meet in Washington with a senior Chinese official on the eve of the presidential elections in Taiwan, at a time when the United States seeks to dissuade Beijing from any action against the autonomous island claimed by China.
Blinken will meet with Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, according to the general schedule of the State Department, and John Feiner, a senior official in the White House, met with Liu Jianchao on Wednesday.
The United States does not recognize Taiwan as an independent state, but rather considers the People’s Republic of China the only legitimate representative of China, but the United States provides significant military aid to the island and refuses to change the “status quo” there by force.
William Lai and Vice President Tsai Ing-wen, both of whom belong to the Democratic Progressive Party (supporting independence), are considered the most likely to win the elections. Beijing considers both Tsai Ing-wen and William Lai its enemies because of their pro-independence positions.
US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel said Thursday that the United States, which will send an unofficial delegation to the island after the presidential elections, “believes that it is up to voters in Taiwan to determine their next leader freely and without external interference.”
Source: Agence France-Presse
2024-01-12 21:31:44