Pompeo lifts restrictions on U.S.-Taiwan relationship

US has decided to lift restrictions on contacts between Amerian and Taiwanese officials. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Saturday informed about the move which is bound to to anger China and increase tensions between Beijing and Washington in the waning days of President Donald Trump's presidency. In a statement, Pompeo said that for several decades the State Department had created complex internal restrictions on interactions with Taiwanese counterparts by American diplomats, service members and other officials. "The United States government took these actions unilaterally, in an attempt to appease the Communist regime in Beijing," Pompeo said in a statement. "Today I am announcing that I am lifting all of these self-imposed restrictions," he added.

The move appeared to be another part of an effort by Pompeo and Trump's Republican administration to lock in a tough approach to China before Democratic President-elect Joe Biden takes office on Jan. 20.  The United States, like most countries, has no official relations with Taiwan, the Trump administration has ramped up backing for the island country, with arms sales and laws to help Taiwan deal with pressure from China.

Taiwan's government welcomed the move."Decades of discrimination, removed. A huge day in our bilateral relationship. I will cherish every opportunity," Hsiao Bi-khim, Taiwan's de facto ambassador in Washington, tweeted. The United States is Taiwan’s strongest international backer and arms supplier, and is obliged to help provide it with the means to defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.