US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January. Photo: AFP / Saul Loeb
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaking before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January. Photo: AFP / Saul Loeb

Speaking to lawmakers on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that, though the US does not reject the One China policy, the Trump administration has every intention of fulfilling commitments to Taiwan.

Those commitments include ambiguous self-defense provisions, and the Trump administration has reportedly delayed the most recent arms sale to the territory as a concession to Beijing in return for cooperation in dealing with North Korea.

Tillerson explicitly confirmed US commitment to the One China policy, but went on to question its permanence.

“The question is, is the One China policy sustainable for the next 50 years? And those are the kind of discussions we’re having. They are extremely complex in many regards,” he was quoted by Reuters as saying.

A slight shift in policy or more art of the deal from the Trump administration?

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