Taiwan’s Representative to the US, Shen Lyushun has thanked US President Barack Obama for his support of Taiwan during meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
In an online interview with US magazine National Interest, Shen said Obama has encouraged China to allow Taiwan the right to respect on the international stage. Obama has asked China to respect Taiwan’s democracy and the views of the Taiwanese people.
Shen said thanks to US support, the two meetings between Obama and Xi that have taken place so far have not had any negative impact on Taiwan.
In related news, the US Department of Commerce released figures Tuesday showing trade between the US and Taiwan exceeded US$56.4 billion in the last ten months. This places Taiwan as the US’s tenth largest trading partner.
Figures from the US Bureau of the Census show US exports to Taiwan increased by 6.6% over the same ten month period last year, while Taiwanese exports to the US grew by 7.1%.