US drops website wording on not supporting Taiwan independence

TAIPEI (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department has removed a statement on its website that it does not support Taiwan independence, among changes that the island's government praised on Sunday as supporting Taiwan.

The fact sheet on Taiwan retains Washington's opposition to unilateral change from either Taiwan or from China, which claims the democratically governed island as its own.

But as well as dropping the phrase "we do not support Taiwan independence", the page has added a reference to Taiwan's cooperation with a Pentagon technology and semiconductor development project and says the U.S. will support Taiwan's membership in international organisations "where applicable".

The United States, like most countries, has no formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan but is its strongest international backer, bound by law to provide the island with the means to defend itself.

"We oppose any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side," the State Department website reads in the update posted on Thursday. "We expect cross-Strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means, free from coercion, in a manner acceptable to the people on both sides of the (Taiwan) Strait."

Taiwan Foreign Minister Lin Chia-lung "welcomed the support and positive stance on U.S.-Taiwan relations demonstrated in the relevant content" of the website, his ministry said in a statement on Sunday.

The State Department and China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment outside office hours.

The changes in language were first reported by Taiwan's official Central News Agency on Sunday. The wording on Taiwan independence was also removed in 2022, before being restored a month later.

Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future. Taiwan says it is already an independent country called the Republic of China, its official name.

Beijing describes Taiwan as its "core of core interests", regularly denouncing any shows of support for Taipei from Washington.

While U.S. President Donald Trump has unnerved Taiwan since taking office last month with criticism of Taiwan's dominance in making semiconductors, his administration has otherwise offered strong words of support for Taiwan.

Last week, the first U.S. Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait since Trump's inauguration.

Taiwan's foreign ministry said in a separate statement that a Canadian warship, the Ottawa, had sailed through the strait on Sunday.

Canada's Department of National Defence did not respond to a request for comment.

Taiwan has faced stepped-up military pressure from Beijing, including almost daily forays by Chinese warplanes and warships into the waters and skies around the island.

Taiwan's defence ministry said that on Sunday it had detected 24 Chinese military aircraft carrying out a "joint combat readiness patrol" along with Chinese warships around Taiwan.

China's defence ministry did not answer calls seeking comment on the State Department website, the Canadian warship or the renewed military activity.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by William Mallard)