US President George W. Bush will express his administration's concern over China's military buildup against Taiwan when he meets Chinese President Hu Jintao (
But the official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said he expected no "breakthroughs" on the Chinese military buildup issue during the summit talks.
In an extensive briefing on the Bush-Hu summit, the official also stressed the importance of Beijing entering into dialogue directly with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).
But the official offered no judgement on the Beijing meeting with Taiwan's opposition party leaders, after which Hu called for dialogue based on the "1992 consensus" which Chen has rejected.
The official said that Bush, in the talks with Hu, will reiterate the administration's Taiwan policy, including its "one China" policy.
"It's not changing, hasn't changed and we're not going to change it," the official said.
Bush will also reiterate Washington's commitment to provide arms to Taiwan and will reject any Chinese effort to get the US to change that policy, the official said.
Overall, "a wide range of issues are capable of being raised by either side" on Taiwan, the official said.
The comments by senior US administration officials who took part in the briefing seemed to indicate that while Taiwan would be overshadowed by pressing US-China issues such as economics, trade and other global issues, the Taiwan issue may be dealt with in a substantial manner.
That is in contrast to many previous summits, in which Taiwan has come up in only a pro forma manner, with the Chinese side raising predictable points and Bush simply reiterating the US position.
It is clear that recent cross-strait developments, such as China's military buildup, Chen's scrapping of the National Unification Council as well as his plans for constitutional reform, demand more than cursory treatment this time.
On the Chinese military buildup, which has attracted increasingly nervous comments in Washington over the past year, the official stressed the matter was of "concern" to the Bush administration.
"It has to be of concern to us because while the Chinese government proclaims that its desire is for peaceful settlement of this situation, there is no doubt that since 1995 there has been a large increase in military capabilities opposite Taiwan," the official said.
"And we're not going to shy away from either talking about it or writing about it," he added.
He noted that recent Department of Defense reports on Beijing's military capabilities have underlined the issue, and that a new Pentagon report due this summer "will document again the increase in military capabilities opposite Taiwan at a time when Taiwan's military spending has been rather flat."
"At the same time that Taiwan is not spending more on defense, we find that Beijing is continuing to raise defense spending at double-digit rates. So this is an issue that we have to raise with the Chinese president," the official said.
In the context of the increasing Chinese military threat, the official said that China often urges Washington to end its military aid to Taiwan.
"There is no possible way we can end our military assistance to Taiwan under these circumstances," the official said, noting US obligations under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
"That is part of our policy, and we enunciate that to the Chinese," the official said.
On the issue of cross-strait dialogue, the official urged China to open direct talks with Chen. But asked about the recent pan-blue visit to Beijing, the official said the US welcomes dialogue with "all authorities in Taipei," presumably including the opposition forces.
However, "it's important that the central government in Beijing engage directly with the elected government in Taipei, and that is with the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party]," he said.
Citing the dialogue between China and the opposition parties over the past year, the official said: "Our position with the Chinese government has been that dialogue is good, but dialogue with the elected government in Taipei is essential."
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as