US denies China policy change after Taiwan leader speech in LA

President Donald Trump's administration has denied any change to its "One-China" policy after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen made a political speech in the US, the first time in 15 years a Taiwanese leader has done so.

Beijing said that it had lodged an official protest with the United States over Tsai's speech Monday in Los Angeles, where she said Taiwan's freedom and future was not negotiable.

Tsai spoke at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library while in transit on a trip to Paraguay and Belize, two of the few countries that continue to recognize the government in Taipei.

State Department Spokeswoman Heather Nauert said yesterday the speech did not represent any move by the Trump administration to alter the official US stance that accepts Beijing as the sole government of China, and does not officially recognize Taiwan's government.

"Our policy on Taiwan has not changed," she told reporters.

"The United States in regard to this trip facilitates from time to time representatives of the Taiwan authorities to transit the United States." "Those are largely undertaken out of consideration for the safety and the comfort of those travelers, and that is in keeping with our One-China policy."
Tsai, a firm defender of Taiwan's independence, said in the speech Monday that "We will keep our pledge that we are willing to jointly promote regional stability and peace under the principles of national interests, freedom and democracy."