US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Friday called for a reduction in military tensions and deployments across the Taiwan Strait.
Speaking just days before the arrival in Washington of Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), Clinton gave notice that there would be no changes in US-Taiwan relations — despite signals from Beijing that it is strongly opposed to US weapons sales to Taipei.
“On Taiwan, we are encouraged by the greater dialogue and economic cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan — as witnessed by the historic completion of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement [ECFA],” Clinton said.
“Our approach continues to be guided by our ‘one China’ policy based on the Three Joint Communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act,” she said.
“In the period ahead, we seek to encourage and see more dialogue and exchanges between the two sides, as well as reduced tensions and deployments,” she added.
Analysts said later that by “deployments” Clinton was referring to the 1,000-plus missiles that China has aimed at Taiwan.
There has been speculation in Washington that US President Barack Obama will raise the possibility of reducing the missile numbers when he meets with Hu for a White House summit meeting on Wednesday.
In an article published earlier in the week, the Washington Times said that the Obama administration would announce a US$4 billion arms package for Taiwan some time after the Hu visit, and that the package would include equipment to upgrade Taiwan’s 145 F-16 jet fighters with new electronics, engines and missiles.
The US has not confirmed the report.
Clinton’s brief but significant remarks about Taiwan came at the end of a long speech at the US Department of State, and was meant to set the scene for Hu’s visit.
“It is up to both nations to translate the high-level pledges of summits and state visits into action. Real action, on real issues,” Clinton said.
“America and China have arrived at a critical juncture, a time when the choices we make — big and small — will shape the trajectory of this relationship,” she said.
Clinton urged China to examine its policies on trade, climate change and North Korea and to further open its markets and let its currency appreciate faster. She promised that there would be no backing down on the strong US stand on human rights.
She said the US had watched China’s efforts to modernize and expand its military “and we have sought clarity as to its intentions.”
She said that both sides needed to build trust, understanding of intentions and familiarity.
Clinton left the strong impression that the US would be as friendly and as cooperative with China as it could, but that there would be no compromise on policies or principles.
That seems to echo the national mood as reflected in the media and amongst the intelligentsia.
As China expert Joseph Bosco wrote in the Christian Science Monitor on Friday: “China games the global economic system by labor exploitation, environmental degradation, currency manipulation, mercantilist trade practices, technology and intellectual property theft and cyber-sabotage.
“Obama cannot turn all this around in one meeting. But he can lay out a new framework for US-China relations, based on candor and resolve to protect US national interests and those of our friends and allies,” Bosco wrote.
He said it was time for the US to “draw some lines” and to tell Beijing that the US would defend democratic Taiwan against Chinese aggression or coercion.
GEARING UP: An invasion would be difficult and would strain China’s forces, but it has conducted large-scale training supporting an invasion scenario, the report said China increased its military pressure on Taiwan last year and took other steps in preparation for a potential invasion, an annual report published by the US Department of Defense on Wednesday showed. “Throughout 2023, Beijing continued to erode longstanding norms in and around Taiwan by employing a range of pressure tactics against Taiwan,” the report said, which is titled “Military and Security Developments Involving the People’s Republic of China (PRC) 2024.” The Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) “is preparing for a contingency to unify Taiwan with the PRC by force, if perceived as necessary by Beijing, while simultaneously deterring, delaying or denying
PEACEFUL RESOLUTION: A statement issued following a meeting between Australia and Britain reiterated support for Taiwan and opposition to change in the Taiwan Strait Canada should support the peaceful resolution of Taiwan’s destiny according to the will of Taiwanese, Canadian lawmakers said in a resolution marking the second anniversary of that nation’s Indo-Pacific strategy on Monday. The Canadian House of Commons committee on Canada-Chinese relations made the comment as part of 34 recommendations for the new edition of the strategy, adding that Ottawa should back Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations. Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy, first published in October 2022, emphasized that the region’s security, trade, human rights, democracy and environmental protection would play a crucial role in shaping Canada’s future. The strategy called for Canada to deepen
TECH CONFERENCE: Input from industry and academic experts can contribute to future policymaking across government agencies, President William Lai said Multifunctional service robots could be the next new area in which Taiwan could play a significant role, given its strengths in chip manufacturing and software design, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) chairman and chief executive C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said yesterday. “In the past two months, our customers shared a lot of their future plans with me. Artificial intelligence [AI] and AI applications were the most talked about subjects in our conversation,” Wei said in a speech at the National Science and Technology Conference in Taipei. TSMC, the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, counts Nvidia Corp, Advanced Micro Devices Inc, Apple Inc and
LEAP FORWARD: The new tanks are ‘decades more advanced than’ the army’s current fleet and would enable it to compete with China’s tanks, a source said A shipment of 38 US-made M1A2T Abrams tanks — part of a military procurement package from the US — arrived at the Port of Taipei early yesterday. The vehicles are the first batch of 108 tanks and other items that then-US president Donald Trump announced for Taiwan in 2019. The Ministry of National Defense at the time allocated NT$40.5 billion (US$1.25 billion) for the purchase. To accommodate the arrival of the tanks, the port suspended the use of all terminals and storage area machinery from 6pm last night until 7am this morning. The tanks are expected to be deployed at the army’s training
RSS