State Department Spokesperson Asked: Will Visit By Taiwan President Be  'Counterproductive' To US-China Talks? - video Dailymotion

Forbes Breaking News

During a State Department press briefing on Thursday, spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked about a planned visit to the United States by Taiwan President Lai Ching-te.

Transcript

00:00Two questions. We saw Secretary Rubio's very important meeting with Foreign Minister

00:06of China, Wang Yi, last Friday in Malaysia. Secretary Rubio said it was very constructive.

00:14We're now reporting that the President of Taiwan plans to transit the United States

00:21next month, and I wanted to ask if there's any concern about expected or foreseeable Chinese

00:29reaction, because we've seen in the past, for instance, in December, when the President

00:34transited Hawaii and Guam, we saw China's largest naval deployment in years along the

00:40first island chain. And is there any concern that at a time when, coming off of this high

00:45of the Secretary's meeting with his counterpart, that the presence of the Taiwanese President

00:52will somehow be counterproductive or disturbing to this point that's been reached?

00:57I think you mentioned that they had met, and I would refer you back to his comments

01:02following that meeting. He stated that this was not a warning meeting, and that the discussion

01:10was constructive and positive. And I remember his attitude, and I appreciated that. And also,

01:19he noted, I want to reiterate that transits by the Taiwan President are fully consistent with our

01:25longstanding policy and practice. I don't want to necessarily attach that to the Secretary. I'm not

01:30sure that that's what he said, but that is the case. I would also say that transits of the United

01:36States by high-level Taiwan officials, including presidents, are again in line with past practice

01:43and fully consistent with our longstanding policy. And such transits are undertaken with consideration for

01:49the safety, comfort, convenience, and dignity of the passenger. All right. All right.

State Department Spokesperson Asked: Will Visit By Taiwan President Be 'Counterproductive' To US-China Talks?

Category

Transcript

Recommended