This photo provided by the Presidential Office shows China’s President Xi Jinping attending the ceremonial opening of the China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai on Nov. 5, 2017. (Courtesy of Chinese Presidency Office/Tudor Cristsson via AP)
The meeting in Washington between an adviser to President-elect Donald Trump and Taiwan’s president comes as Taiwan is being invited to the White House as part of an outreach effort, reports The Times of India. The White House released a statement inviting “Taiwan and other counterparts to take part in an annual forum on democracy and human rights” on Thursday.
Guo Xi-hua, a political adviser to President Tsai Ing-wen, said that the meeting “is being held as a means to reaffirm the ‘One China’ policy which has enabled the improvement of relations between Taiwan and China.”
The White House statement said that the invitation to Taiwan’s high-level officials was a “new development.” The meeting in Washington coincides with a visit to the United States by the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, who will be hosted in Washington on Friday by the president and vice president.
“In the U.S., the ideals of democracy and human rights will be discussed,” Guo added, noting that Taiwan’s attendance also marked its fifth time attending the “Summit for Democracy and Human Rights” in Washington. “The U.S. administration has reiterated repeatedly that Taiwan is part of ‘one China,’ and this topic was directly mentioned in the White House statement.”
Guo was the only representative of Taiwan at a meeting in the White House this week between David Satterfield, a senior aide to President Trump, and Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen.
Taiwan has about 24 million people, makes up less than 20 percent of China’s population, and is the third-largest offshore trading partner of the United States after Canada and Mexico.
Read the full story at The Times of India.
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