The U.S. Department of State has recently removed the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence” from its website, as reported by Reuters on the 16th (local time). The update to the “Fact Sheet on U.S. Relations with Taiwan” now includes language about Taiwan’s cooperation in U.S. Department of Defense semiconductor development projects and support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in appropriate international organizations.
The State Department emphasized opposition to any unilateral changes to the status quo by either China or Taiwan and reiterated the need for peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences acceptable to people on both sides.
The longstanding “One China Policy” of successive U.S. administrations has involved not supporting Taiwan independence, opposing unilateral changes to the status quo, and advocating for peaceful resolution of the Taiwan issue. The removal of certain phrases from this policy text could be interpreted as signaling support for Taiwan by the second Trump administration.
On February 15th, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yong, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeo Iwaya expressed support for Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations in a joint statement following a meeting at the Munich Security Conference.
Additionally, a U.S. Navy destroyer transited the Taiwan Strait for the first time under President Trump from February 10th to the 12th. Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed welcome support for these developments. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State and China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not issued official statements. According to Reuters, a similar deletion of Taiwan-related language occurred in 2022 but was restored a month later.