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US still adheres to 'status quo,'
Steinberg says
'ONE CHINA POLICY': The deputy secretary of state said the
US welcomed the improvements in cross-strait ties and hoped they would continue
to expand
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER WITH REUTERS, WASHINGTON
Wednesday, Mar 31, 2010, Page 1
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg said on Monday that during a recent
trip to Beijing he reassured senior members of the Chinese leadership that the
US does not support independence for Taiwan.
¡§We oppose unilateral attempts by either side to change the 'status quo,'¡¨ he
said.
Steinberg, briefing foreign media in Washington, said he was aware that in
recent months there had been speculation about a change in the US relationship
with China as a result of arms sales to Taiwan and other issues.
¡§I had an opportunity to reiterate the core approach. And that message is that
the US seeks a relationship with China marked by a positive and pragmatic
cooperation in which we expand our areas of mutual interest while candidly
addressing our differences,¡¨ he said.
¡§The centerpiece is our 'one China' policy which has not changed. We welcome
recent improvements in cross-strait relations and hope that they will continue
and expand, and we urged our counterparts in Beijing to continue to work to that
end,¡¨ he said.
Steinberg said that the current China-Taiwan dialogue contributed to the
objective of peaceful resolution.
¡§We marked last year the 30th anniversary of the establishment of full
normalization with the PRC [People's Republic of China]. We moved to formal
recognition of the PRC and established only unofficial relations with Taiwan.
Those have been embodied in a number of agreements that we've reached with
China. They are part of the fabric of our 'one China' policy. We have not
changed our view on that, and it's served us very well,¡¨ he said.
¡§So there's no change. It's a commitment that we understand to be at the bedrock
and the foundation of the relationship between the two countries,¡¨ he said.
Steinberg was asked if China's opposition to arms sales made it more difficult
for the US to sell advanced F-16 fighter aircraft to Taiwan.
Avoiding the question, he said that the ¡§basic core¡¨ of US policy was to support
peaceful dialogue across the Taiwan Strait, adding: ¡§One of the things that I
came away with, and I believe our Chinese counterparts came away with, is that
when we have the opportunity to sit down and discuss in detail our perspectives
and views, that we find broad common ground.¡¨
¡§I was grateful for the very serious level of dialogue that we were able to have
with very senior Chinese officials. It really was a very in-depth discussion. It
allowed us to reiterate some basic principles that underlie the relationship,¡¨
he said.
Meanwhile, Beijing yesterday sought smoother ties with the US and said it
welcomed US President Barack Obama's call for a positive relationship in a
meeting with the new Chinese ambassador to Washington, Zhang Yesui (±i·~¹E), on
Monday.
¡§The president also stressed the need for the United States and China to work
together and with the international community on critical global issues
including nonproliferation and pursuing sustained and balanced global growth,¡¨
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement after the meeting.
Since the start of the year, China and Washington have traded criticisms over
Beijing's controls on the Internet, arms sales to Taiwan and Obama's meeting
with the Dalai Lama. While those tensions have not evaporated, Chinese Foreign
Ministry spokesman Qin Gang (¯³è) said this showed his government wanted to lower
the temperature of contention.
¡§China appreciates President Obama's and Deputy Secretary of State Steinberg's
positive stance on promoting China-US relations,¡¨ Qin told a regular news
conference in Beijing yesterday.
Qin did not give any details of Zhang's discussions with Obama and Steinberg,
but he said his government ¡§took seriously the US side's reiteration of its
principled commitments on the Taiwan and Tibet issues.¡¨
¡§Healthy China-US relations suit the fundamental interests of both countries and
their peoples, and is beneficial to the peace, stability and prosperity of the
Asia-Pacific region and the world,¡¨ he said.
Qin would not say whether Chinese President Hu Jintao (JÀAÀÜ) will attend a
nuclear security summit in Washington on April 12 and April 13.
The summit will take place before the US Treasury Department is scheduled to
issue a report on April 15 that could label China as a ¡§currency manipulator¡¨
over its exchange rate policy. Hu's possible absence from the nuclear talks
could be seen as a pointed snub over that threat.
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