Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry said Thursday that its foreign minister did not engage in an “intense” exchange with the unofficial U.S. ambassador to the island earlier this month, disputing a report in The Washington Times’ Inside the Ring column.
The ministry says Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung did not summon American Institute Taiwan Director Raymond Greene to a March 2 meeting to explain Mr. Trump’s Oval Office comments about wanting to have good relations with China. It said there was neither a meeting nor a phone call in which there was an “intense” exchange about Mr. Trump’s call for China “to come and invest” in the U.S., as a source told The Times.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs solemnly clarifies that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and [American Institute in Taiwan] have always maintained close and good interactions and have closely coordinated on deepening Taiwan-U.S. cooperation,” the statement said.
In a late February meeting of the White House Cabinet, Mr. Trump declined to answer a reporter’s question about whether the U.S. would defend Taiwan from a Chinese attack saying, “I never comment on that.” He also said he likes Chinese President Xi Jinping “very much” and wants to get along with him.
Many in Taiwan have cited Washington’s shifting stance in defense of Ukraine against Russia as a possible sign of a similar shift in the U.S. stand on the China-Taiwan issue.
An AIT official referred questions to the State Department. A State Department spokesman declined to comment Thursday when asked about the reported March 2 exchange between Mr. Lin and Mr. Greene.
On March 3, Mr. Trump announced that the Taiwanese microchip giant TSMC has promised to invest $100 billion in semiconductor manufacturing in the U.S.
“Minister Lin welcomed Director Greene’s comments in a recent interview with local Taiwanese media in which he clearly conveyed the Trump administration’s firm support for and commitment to Taiwan as well as the positive message of Taiwan and the United States helping each other become stronger and more prosperous,” the ministry statement said.
• Bill Gertz can be reached at bgertz@washingtontimes.com.
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