US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday that the US hasn't always received a "satisfactory" response from Taiwan with regard to US efforts to help modernize the Taiwanese military.
Rice made the remarks while attending a hearing of the House International Relations Committee on the fiscal year 2007 international affairs budget request. She said the US has also been clear that it has obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) to help Taiwan defend itself.
Rice said the US has "proposed that there are things that could be done for the modernization of Taiwanese forces with the help of the United States."
However, the US hasn't always received "a particularly satisfactory response on the Taiwanese side to issues about defense modernization, but we have been prepared to discharge our duties in that regard."
Ohio Representative Steve Chabot, co-chairman of the Congressional Taiwan Caucus, a pro-Taiwan group in the House of Representatives, asked Rice during the hearing about cross-strait relations and the US role in the Taiwan Strait.
Rice said that although the US has insisted on its "one China" policy, it has also tried to give Taiwan space within the international community.
Chabot admitted that he is "not a big fan" of the so-called "one China" policy, saying he believes it is "wrongheaded" and "dangerous."
During the hearing, Chabot cited a Taipei Times cartoon to make his point.
The cartoon, published by this paper on Feb 4, shows a man labeled "Taiwan," who is trying to crawl out of the water to get away from a shark that is labeled "China." From the shore, a bat-wielding Uncle Sam is saying to Taiwan "Get back in there! We don't want to alter the status quo."
"I use this cartoon as an illustration of the frustration I'm sure Taiwan's leaders must be feeling, and frankly, the frustration I am feeling," Chabot was quoted as saying in the hearing's transcript.
Chabot said that "every time Taiwan's democratically elected President Chen Shui bian (
He said the main threat to the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait is actually China, which is pursuing a rapid military buildup, has 784 missiles pointed at Taiwan and last year passed the "Anti-Secession" Law giving it legal cover to attack Taiwan.
In response, Rice said that the US has pursued "a policy that does recognize that there is one China," but that it has tried also to make space for Taiwan in international organizations and international groupings.
For instance, she said the US advocates having Taiwan in the World Health Organization and has insisted that Taiwan continue to be involved in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).
"I think we have tried to give Taiwan space to be active in international politics," Rice noted.
Rice said that she understands that Chabot disagrees with the policy, but that the US has "carried out the policy in a way consistent with its interests" and "consistent with our values in trying to support Taiwan's democracy to give it room and space within the international community, to give it a way to engage the international community, and to do that within the context of this policy."
On cross-strait relations, she said that "the best course is to have a situation in which neither side tries to change the status quo unilaterally. We also believe that the Chinese should not provoke Taiwan, and we've been very clear to them on the same count."
also see story:
KMT may back purchase of submarines: lawmaker
Letter: Balance needed in US policy
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS