William Stanton, director of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), on November 24 reiterated that there were no "surprises" from President Barak Obama's recent trip to China regarding U.S. policy toward Taiwan. Stanton rebutted charges by some local politicians and media that Obama had retreated on the Taiwan issue in his talks with Beijing leaders.
In her meeting with Raymond F. Burghardt, chairman of the AIT in Taipei, Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), pointed to the emphasis in the joint statement issued by President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao that the two countries should mutually respect each other's sovereignty and territory while making no mention of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) that requires the U.S. to provide defensive arms to Taiwan.
The question of Taiwan has always been an extremely sensitive issue ever since Washington and Beijing established formal diplomatic relations in that while Beijing insists that Taiwan "is an integral part of China" of which it is the sole representative, the United States does not.
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