China pressed the US to alter the language on Taiwan

Chinese President Xi Jinping asked U.S. President Joe Biden last year to change the language the United States uses when discussing its position on Taiwanese independence, according to two U.S. officials familiar with the private conversation, News.Az reports citing Reuters.

During last November's Biden-Xi meeting near San Francisco, Xi and his aides asked Biden and his team to tweak the language in U.S. official statements.

China wanted the U.S. to say "we oppose Taiwan independence," rather than the current version, which is that the United States "does not support" independence for Taiwan, said the people, who requested anonymity to speak about private diplomatic exchanges they participated in or were briefed on.

Xi's aides have repeatedly followed up and made the requests in the months since, according to two U.S. officials and another person familiar with the exchanges.

The U.S. has declined to make the change.

The White House responded to a request for comment with a statement that repeated the line that Washington does not support Taiwan independence. "The Biden-Harris administration has been consistent on our long-standing One China policy," the statement read.

China's foreign ministry said: "You should ask this question to the U.S. government. China's position on the Taiwan issue is clear and consistent."

Taiwan's foreign ministry declined comment.

The defeated Republic of China government fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing a civil war with Mao Zedong's communists.

The Republic of China remains Taiwan's formal name and the government says it has no plans to change that given they are already a sovereign, independent state and Beijing has no right to claim Taiwan as its own.

News.Az