It was reported on at the time as unusual, and created a bit of a row between Taiwan and USA. The critical part of the white house statement is this:
President Obama on various occasions has reiterated that the U.S. side adheres to the one-China policy, abides by the three Sino-U.S. joint communiqués, and respects China’s sovereignty and the territorial integrity when it comes to the Taiwan question and other matters.
In the terms of China/Taiwan relations, this is effectively carte blanche for China to do as it pleases. “Respects China’s sovereignty and the territorial integrity” means “we won’t intervene.” And it calls out Taiwan specifically.
Under the old status quo this might have been phrased as “concurs that Taiwan is a province of China” or some such. The key words here are “sovereignty” and “territorial integrity” which means interference would be interpreted as an international incident.
It was reported on at the time as unusual, and created a bit of a row between Taiwan and USA. The critical part of the white house statement is this:
In the terms of China/Taiwan relations, this is effectively carte blanche for China to do as it pleases. “Respects China’s sovereignty and the territorial integrity” means “we won’t intervene.” And it calls out Taiwan specifically.
Under the old status quo this might have been phrased as “concurs that Taiwan is a province of China” or some such. The key words here are “sovereignty” and “territorial integrity” which means interference would be interpreted as an international incident.