Taiwan’s top diplomat in Washington has a message for both the island’s Chinese adversaries and its American friends: Don’t worry that Taiwan’s new president-elect will worsen relations with Beijing and possibly draw the U.S. into a conflict. President-elect Lai Ching-te plans to keep the status quo across the Taiwan Strait, Alexander Tah-Ray Yui told the Associated Press on Thursday in his first interview with an international news organization since he arrived in the U.S. in December.

Beijing has called Lai a troublemaker who will push Taiwan toward independence. But Yui said Lai was willing to engage with the mainland Chinese government, even as the island seeks to strengthen its unofficial ties with Washington, to promote stability in the region.

“We want the status quo. We want the way it is — neither unification, neither independence. The way it is is the way we want to live right now,” said Yui, Taiwan’s de-facto ambassador to the U.S., noting that the stance is largely supported at home and will guide the new administration.