 "US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing in 2017. File image/AP")
The US State Department has removed the phrase “People’s Republic of China (PRC)” from its country fact sheet about mainland China on its website. The fact sheet now refers to the country simply as “China.”
In addition, a sentence concerning Taiwan’s independence has also been removed from the department’s Taiwan fact sheet.
The US Department of State fact sheet, which earlier used to refer to the Asian nation as “People’s Republic of China” with subsequent mentions saying PRC, has been changed to reflect “China”.
The move by Trump administration becomes all the more important given the context of the changes made to the US-Taiwan relations page recently.
US changing stance on Taiwan?
In the fact sheet on Taiwan, The US dropped a reference to not supporting the independence of China.
Even though the US has long maintained its policy of “strategic ambiguity” regarding the independnece of Taiwan, there was still a disclaimer that said “we do not support Taiwan independence” on the website.
In addition to dropping the reference, the website has added a reference to military and technology collaboration, including on semiconductors, between the United States and China.
The self-governing island territory of Taiwan is claimed as a part of China by Beijing. Chinese President Xi Jinping has not rules out the use of force for the “unification” of Taiwan with the “mainland”.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsAs of May 2024, just about a dozen countries recognised Taiwan as an independent state– and the list did not include the US. However, Washington is formally committed to the defence of Taiwan in case of Chinese aggression.
China has already expressed its disapproval for the “mistake” made when updating the US Department of State page and has demanded it be changed back.
With inputs from agencies