White House admits ‘honest mistake’ in including Taiwan flag in tweet and recommits to ‘one China’ policy

‘We remain committed to our one China policy based on the Taiwan Relations Act,’ Jen Psaki says

The White House Covid Response Team shared a picture of the Taiwan flag on Twitter this week (EPA)

The White House has apologised for making an “honest mistake” in including the Taiwan flag in a tweet about vaccine allocation.

“This was an honest mistake,” said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Thursday, adding, “We remain committed to our one China policy based on the Taiwan Relations Act.”

The statement came after the White House Response Team posted an image on Twitter this week that showed where the US vaccine donations were being distributed globally, including doses of Moderna going to Taiwan.

Each of the countries’ flags were included in the tweet.

Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen then retweeted the post, writing: “Thank you to the US for your generosity. Together, we will beat this pandemic.”

But the tweet was later removed on Wednesday.

The United States, similar to other countries, does not formally recognise Taiwan’s government due to its relations with China. This is because the Chinese government claims Taiwan as its own territory.

A spokesman for the White House National Security Council also called the use of the Taiwan flag in the tweet “an honest mistake” and said it was not an indication of a US policy shift towards the country, according to Reuters.

Taiwan Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou said that the ministry noticed the Twitter post had been removed.

“Regarding the reason for the deletion of this tweet, as the media has different interpretations, the Foreign Ministry has asked the representative office in the United States to remind the United States not to cause unnecessary speculation or misunderstanding from all walks of life due to the removal of the related tweet,” she said, according to Reuters.

The Biden administration has made it clear that it has no intentions to significantly alter its policy towards Taiwan, but the US will continue to be a strong supporter of Taipei as a supplier of arms and other initiatives like vaccine donations.

On Tuesday, Kurt Campbell, the White House coordinator for the Indo-Pacific, took part in an online discussion hosted by the Asia Society Policy Institute (ASPI).

During the talk, Mr Campbell acknowledged that the country’s relations with Taiwan was in a “dangerous balance” given its relationship with the Chinese government – with a priority being to avoid military confrontation with China.

Mr Campbell was later asked “how much love is too much love” when the US interacts with Taiwan. He said that the country had an “unofficial relationship” with Taiwan but that “we do not support Taiwan independence”.

He added that the US does believe Taiwan “has the right to live in peace”.