US diplomat: ‘We are committed to deepening our ties with Taiwan’

Sandra Oudkirk, the new director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the U.S. de facto embassy for the territory, on Friday reiterated the commitment the U.S. has to the democratically run island. 

“The value of our partnership and our support for Taiwan is rock solid,” Oudkirk said, according to the Associated Press. “We are committed to deepening our ties with Taiwan.”

Her comments come as tensions between Taiwan, China and the U.S. have been at their highest in decades.

China has been flying military jets close to Taiwan while the U.S. has reportedly had troops stationed in the territory for the past year training their people.

Oudkirk would not comment on the presence of U.S. troops in Taiwan during the press conference.

Tensions also increased between the countries after President Biden said the U.S. would defend Taiwan if China tried to invade. Secretary of State Antony Blinken also recently signaled U.S. support for Taiwan to participate in the United Nations.

“We are going to continue to advance global and regional goals of the Biden administration, including countering malign PRC influence, recovering from the devastating impacts of the pandemic and addressing the threat of climate change,” Oudkirk said, using China’s official name, the People’s Republic of China.

China has long claimed said they have a territorial claim over Taiwan and it is not an independent country. China’s president has vowed to reunify the island with the rest of the country.

“Taiwan has no right to join the United Nations,” Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office in Beijing, said after the U.S. showed support for the move. The United Nations is an international governmental organisation composed of sovereign states. … Taiwan is a part of China.”