Trump Administration’s Website Tweak Sends China into a Frenzy

In a move that’s got Beijing furious, the Trump administration subtly edited the State Department’s website.

What was the big deal?

It was omitting the classic “we do not support Taiwan independence” line.

That was the last straw for “Chyna”.

Now, China’s throwing a diplomatic tantrum, calling it a “serious regression.”

Because nothing says international crisis like a website update, right?

Can someone please write a book called Chinese Fragility?

China condemns US for removing reference to status of Taiwan from State Department website, urging Washington to “correct its mistakes”https://t.co/RHfLsaPitq

— The Defense Post (@DefensePost) February 18, 2025

Western Journal reports:

China is red over what the United States does not say about Taiwan in a State Department fact sheet.

The fact sheet, which says its purpose is to summarize American relations with Taiwan, was updated on Thursday.

Gone from the fact sheet was the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence,” according to The Washington Post.

The official U.S. policy is that there is one China in theory but that in practice, Taiwan will remain an independent democracy. China claims it is the rightful government of Taiwan, to which the Nationalist government of China fled in 1949 after the Communists took power in China

The Post said the document broke new ground by using the word “coercion” in reference to China’s relations with Taiwan.

“We expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the Strait,” the State Department post said in part.

Are we boycotting buying from China yet?

Reuters adds:

BEIJING/TAIPEI, Feb 17 (Reuters) – China on Monday urged the United States to “correct its mistakes” after the U.S. State Department removed previous wording on its website about not supporting Taiwan independence, which it said was part of a routine update.
The fact sheet on Taiwan, updated last week, retains Washington’s opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own.

But as well as dropping the phrase “we do not support Taiwan independence”, the page added a reference to Taiwan’s cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project and says the U.S. will support Taiwan’s membership in international organisations “where applicable”.

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Beijing regularly denounces any international recognition of Taiwan or contact between Taiwanese and foreign officials, viewing it as encouraging Taiwan’s separate status from China.
The update to the website came roughly three weeks after U.S. President Donald Trump was sworn in to his second term in the White House.
Speaking in Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the revisions for Taiwan on the U.S. State Department’s website were a big step backwards and “sends a seriously wrong message to Taiwan independence separatist forces”.

“This is yet another example of the United States’ stubborn adherence to the erroneous policy of ‘using Taiwan to suppress China’. We urge the United States side to immediately rectify its mistakes,” Guo said.