U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft (left) is on a video call with Republic of China President Tsai Ing-wen. (Republic of China Presidential Office website)
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft, who was unable to visit Taiwan as scheduled after the U.S. State Department canceled all foreign visits this week, is on a video call with President Tsai Ing-wen of the Republic of China. The Chinese Foreign Ministry threatened that some U.S. politicians would “pay a heavy price” for this.
The call between Craft and Tsai took place on Wednesday evening (13) EST, or Thursday morning Taiwan time.
According to the Republic of China Presidential Office, Tsai had an in-depth conversation with Craft about U.S.-Taiwan exchanges and cooperation, and expressed her gratitude to the United States and Craft for their support of Taiwan. Tsai expressed regret that Craft’s visit to Taiwan did not materialize and looked forward to meeting in Taiwan in the future.
Tsai said that Taiwan is a force for good and has the ability and willingness to contribute to the international community, and will continue to promote membership in the United Nations and its activities in the future, and hopes for continued U.S. support.
Kraft tweeted after the call that he had made clear to Tsai that the United States and Taiwan will always stand together as pillars of democracy.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on September 9 that all restrictions on contacts between U.S. and Taiwan officials were lifted. The U.S. State Department then announced Craft’s visit to Taiwan on the 13th, but later said it was canceling all foreign visits for the week in preparation for the regime transition.
After the call between Craft and Tsai, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a regular press conference that “China firmly opposes any form of official U.S.-Taiwan contacts” and threatened that some U.S. politicians would “pay a heavy price” for this.
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