Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

US admiral signals wider role for Third Fleet

Taipei Times

A top US Navy admiral wants the powerful Third Fleet to expand its engagement in the Western Pacific from its headquarters in San Diego, California, by operating more closely with the Japan-based Seventh Fleet to focus on areas with the “greatest instability.”

In two recent speeches that received little media attention, US Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Scott Swift questioned the need for an administrative boundary running along the international date line to demarcate operations for the Seventh Fleet in the Western Pacific and the Third Fleet to the east.

Obama ‘supports’ Taiwan in Xi talks

Taipei Times

A group of Taiwanese protest outside the White House during closed-door discussions between US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Washington on Friday.
Photo courtesy of Formosan Association for Public Affairs

US President Barack Obama reportedly declared his “strong commitment” to the Three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act during his White House summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).

While details of discussions concerning Taiwan remain secret, Obama is understood to have firmly supported Taiwan.

China redefines the ‘status quo’

Taipei Times Editorial

US National Security adviser Susan Rice on Monday said the US’ fundamental interest is in peaceful and stable relations between Taiwan and China, and that Washington opposes any unilateral attempt to change the “status quo.”

Democratic Progressive Party presidential candidate Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has also pledged her cross-strait policy would be to maintain the “status quo,” while President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has claimed that cross-strait relations are at their best in more than 60 years.

US officials seek to reassure Taiwan

Taipei Times

Pro-Taiwan protesters on Tuesday shout during a rally in Seattle, Washington, as Chinese President Xi Jinping attends an event at the Westin Hotel nearby.
Photo: Reuters

US officials are reassuring Taiwan that no matter what Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) says about it during his summit with US President Barack Obama this week, Washington will not change its current policies.

“It is normal for a Chinese leader to raise Taiwan,” US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and Pacific Affairs Daniel Russel told a media briefing on Tuesday.

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