Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/05/04
By: Rita Cheng and Christie Chen
Washington, May 3 (CNA) The United States hopes to hear President-elect Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英
Susan A. Thornton, U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
文) speak of her vision for Taiwan-China relations and her plans to further develop the U.S.-Taiwan partnership when she gives her inaugural speech on May 20, a senior U.S. State Department official said Tuesday.
In an exclusive interview with CNA at the State Department, Susan A. Thornton, U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of state in the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said in response to a question about the United States’ expectations of the inaugural speech that while she would not presume to tell Tsai what to say, there were certain hopes.
“Of course, we hope that President Tsai would talk about how she sees Taiwan’s development potential going forward, what kinds of positive vision she has for developing cross-strait ties, and also how to further develop the U.S.-Taiwan partnership,” Thornton said in the first exclusive interview by the Taiwan media with a high-level U.S. official since Tsai was elected president in January.
Thornton, who is responsible for policy related to China and Taiwan and has a deep understanding of cross-strait affairs, said she had met Taiwan’s president-elect a few times before she was elected. [FULL STORY]
