Outgoing US envoy to UN berates China, says 'world must end Taiwan's exclusion'

Outgoing US ambassador to UN, Kelly Craft on January 21 berated China’s efforts for isolating and excluding Taiwan ahead of her dismissal from the White House. Craft spent her last 24 hours stressing that the US will always strongly support Taiwan and that will continue with the administration of newly inaugurated President Joe Biden. “The US position on this matter enjoys universal bipartisan support,” Craft tweeted, “and so, even as the United States is preparing for a transition, I can speak with great confidence that the US-Taiwan relationship will continue to grow and strengthen.”

Furthermore, Craft called Taiwan a “force for good on the global stage,” adding that the island is “a vibrant democracy, a generous humanitarian actor, a responsible actor in the global health community, and a vigorous promoter and defender of human rights. Craft, a staunch supporter of Taiwan’s independent entry into the UN, World Health Organization, and the International Civil Aviation Organization, always condemned Beijing for treating the island nation as a renegade province. Under the Presidency of Donald Trump, Taiwan’s relations with the US smothered as former president Trump, a strong critic of China’s communist regime lent extraordinary support to Taiwan in a diplomatic approach.

Days ahead of Joe Biden’s inaugural ceremony, Trump’s US envoy to the United Nations Craft paid a surprise visit to Taipei, defying Beijing’s threats of US interference, and met with Taiwan’s New York representative. Before leaving office, Trump administration secretary of state Mike Pompeo banned all travel to China cancelling the US envoy’s planned three visit to the island after she spoke with the president of the self-ruled island Tsai Ing-wen via a video link. 

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Tsai said 'will continue to promote bid' 

US envoy for the UN, Craft, was scheduled to have lunch with Tsai, but instead, the two held a videoconference that Craft described as a “great privilege” on Twitter. “We discussed the many ways Taiwan is a model for the world, as demonstrated by its success in fighting Covid-19 and all that Taiwan has to offer in the fields of health, technology, and cutting-edge science,” she said about the US Taiwan talks.

Furthermore, condemning China, Craft said: “Unfortunately, Taiwan is unable to share those successes in @UN venues, including the World Health Assembly, as a result of PRC [People’s Republic of China] obstruction.” China, which considers Taiwan as a part of its sovereign territory awaiting reunification with the mainland, and has repeatedly warned the US against its official contacts with Taipei, expressed anger at Craft’s dialogue and her visit. Meanwhile, Tsai said that Taiwan was happy to talk with the US and will continue to promote its bid to join the UN. 

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