The White House reportedly cut a Taiwanese minister's video feed during President Joe Biden's Summit for Democracy on Friday after she presented a map during a slide show which showed Taiwan in a different color to China.
Taiwan's digital minister, Audrey Tang, shared a color-coded map from South African NGO CIVICUS during opening remarks of a panel on "countering digital authoritarianism."
Shortly later, the video feed was cut, replaced with audio only, and a placeholder reading "Minister Audrey Tang Taiwan" appeared when she was cued a second time, Reuters first reported.
An onscreen disclaimer later stated: "Any opinions expressed by individuals on this panel are those of the individual, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United States government."
The color-coded map ranks the world by openness on civil rights, and showed Taiwan colored green and "open," while China was colored red and labeled as "closed."
Sources familiar with the matter told the news agency that Tang's presentation caused panic among U.S. officials after the map appeared in her video feed for about a minute.
Unnamed sources told Reuters that Biden administration officials were concerned Tang's presentation could be seen as being at odds with Washington's "one-China" policy. The White House has for decades maintained a policy of "strategic ambiguity," meaning that it does not take a position about whether Taiwan is part of China.
Newsweek has reached out to Tang for comment and clarification on the matter.
How can technological tools strengthen trust & transparency in tackling public health challenges? ⚕
— Audrey Tang 唐鳳 (@audreyt) December 11, 2021
Watch my presentation from Day 2 of the #SummitForDemocracy & find out. 🔽
To give no trust is to get no trust. As democracies we must trust our citizens — and #TaiwanCanHelp 🇹🇼 pic.twitter.com/8SZtpyP2ij
A State Department spokesperson told Newsweek that cutting Tang's video feed was "an honest mistake" and happened after "confusion" over screen-sharing.
"We valued Minister Tang's participation, which showcased Taiwan's world-class expertise on issues of transparent governance, human rights, and countering disinformation," a spokesperson said.
The incident took place one day after a leading Pentagon official in Asia said that the United States recognizes an "urgent" need to bolster Taiwan's defenses to deter a possible attack by the Chinese regime, which claims the self-ruled island as its own.
The democratically governed island has its own constitution, military, and ruling party.
"Without question, bolstering Taiwan's self-defenses is an urgent task and an essential feature of deterrence," Ely Ratner, assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, told a Senate Foreign Relations Committee on December 8.
Ratner added that the Chinese regime is engaging in destabilizing and "intentionally provocative" actions toward Taiwan.
Under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), Washington is required to provide Taiwan with military equipment for self-defense purposes.
Responding to reports that Tang's video feed was cut, Taiwan's foreign ministry said it has discussed the issue with the United States.
"Mutual trust is solid; relations are firm and friendly," it said.
Update 12/13/21 9:47 a.m. ET: This article was updated to include comment from the State Department.
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