The United States is lifting decades-old “self-imposed” restrictions on its official relationship with Taiwan, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Saturday.
“Executive branch agencies should consider all ‘contact guidelines’ regarding relations with Taiwan previously issued by the Department of State under authorities delegated to the Secretary of State to be null and void,” he said in a statement.
Pompeo said the measures had been imposed “unilaterally” by the US government to “appease the Communist regime in Beijing.”
“Today I am announcing that I am lifting all of these self-imposed restrictions,” Pompeo said.
Kelly Craft, the US ambassador to the United Nations, will visit Taiwan next week for meetings with senior Taiwanese leaders.
“Our two democracies share common values of individual freedom, the rule of law, and a respect for human dignity. Today’s statement recognizes that the US-Taiwan relationship need not, and should not, be shackled by self-imposed restrictions of our permanent bureaucracy,” the secretary of state said.
The Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in Washington, which serves as Taiwan’s unofficial embassy, said the move showed the “strength and depth” of the US-Taiwan ties.
