Taiwan’s envoy to the United States, Alexander Tah-Ray Yui, responded to President Biden’s stance against the self-ruled island’s independence, comparing it to the expressed views of the people of Taiwan during a conversation with an Associated Press reporter on Thursday.
The statement comes after the recent election of pro-independence candidate William Lai as president of Taiwan.
Mr. Yui said Taiwan’s new president was “offering an olive branch to mainland China by saying that he’s also willing to engage with mainland China—but obviously under equal footing, under dignity and respecting the will of the Taiwanese people because, after all, we are a democracy.”