China’s Xinhua News Agency has reported that US President Barack Obama told Chinese President Xi Jinping that the US continues to respect what he called China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
According to the report, Obama made the remarks at a meeting on the sidelines of the summit on security in The Hague, which closed on Tuesday. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory though the two sides have been ruled separately since 1949.
In response to the report, Taiwan’s deputy representative to the US said Thursday that US-Taiwan relations remain based on the Taiwan Relations Act. The Taiwan Relations Act is a 1979 act of Congress establishing the framework for unofficial relations between the US and Taiwan after the US decided to switch diplomatic recognition to the People’s Republic of China.
Meanwhile, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes denied that Obama and Xi had discussed the issue of Taiwan’s political status during their meeting. US officials responded to the Taiwanese representative office’s inquiries about the alleged comments by saying that the office should not rely on unofficial sources for information.