In this photo provided by U.S. Coast Guard, Legend-class U.S. Coast Guard National Security Cutter Munro (WMSL 755) transits the Taiwan Strait during a routine transit with Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS Kidd (DDG 100) on Aug. 27, 2021. (U.S. Coast Guard via AP)

       TAIPEI (Kyodo) -- A former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations emphasized the importance of Taiwan on Tuesday, saying the United States is committed to the security of the self-ruled island.

       Kelly Craft, who served in the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, told a security forum in Taipei that she understands why many Afghan people feel betrayed by the United States and acknowledged they have been let down.

       However, Craft emphasized that Taiwan is different from Afghanistan, and she criticized mainland China's state-run media for exploiting Washington's military pullout from Afghanistan to cast doubt on the U.S. commitment to Taiwan.

       "I am here to assure you that they are wrong. I am here to assure you of my belief in the firm U.S. commitment to Taiwan's defense," said in a keynote speech at the Ketagalan Forum: Asia Pacific Security Dialogue, an annual event co-organized by the Foreign Ministry and Taiwanese think tanks since 2017.

       She quoted the late U.S. General Douglas MacArthur, who told the U.S. Senate in 1951, "I believe that from our standpoint we practically lose the Pacific Ocean if we give up or lose Formosa," as Taiwan was commonly known then.

       Craft said she "was proud to support our commitment to Taipei during the Trump administration...and as an American, I am proud to see the Biden administration continuing that policy."

       "America must stand with our friends, our allies, the forces of freedom. Not to do so is indeed cowardice," Craft said, adding that "if Taiwan is lost, we lose too."

       Taiwan and mainland China have been governed separately since they split amid civil war in 1949. Beijing has since regarded Taiwan as a renegade province awaiting reunification, by force if necessary.

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