US Vice President Dick Cheney yesterday affirmed the US policy of selling defensive weapons to Taiwan, rebuffing Chinese lobbying for such sales to end. But Cheney said Washington didn't support formal independence for Taiwan.
Taiwan dominated China's agenda for Cheney's visit, and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and other leaders pressed him to end US weapons sales to Taiwan and avoid any steps that might encourage pro-independence activists.
Cheney, speaking before students at the elite Fudan University, noted that the Taiwan Relations Act, a US law, requires Washington to supply Taiwan with defensive weapons.
"We are obligated ... to provide Taiwan with the capacity to defend herself should that become necessary," Cheney said. "And we do that through the process of selling them military equipment from time to time."
Cheney's comments came a day after Hu, during a meeting in Beijing, appealed to him for Washington to "oppose Taiwan independence."
The repeated and unusually blunt high-level Chinese comments reflected Beijing's frustration with US support for Taiwan.
Cheney affirmed Washington's opposition to "unilateral efforts" to change Taiwan's status -- a reference to both Chinese threats to attack and agitation by some in Taiwan to declare formal independence.
"The position of the United States has been and continues to be that we do not support Taiwan independence," Cheney said, to applause from the student audience. "We believe in the policy of `one China.'"
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs stayed mum on Cheney's remarks yesterday.
"Because of protocol, we must wait until the United States reports to us before we will comment," said Anna Kao (
But Kao added that Taiwan was "watching the situation closely" and that "US-Taiwan interaction has been close."
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