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US committed to Taiwan, US official says
STRATEGIC AMBIGUITY: Experts gathered at a conference on US-China relations
said it was high time to rethink Washington¡¦s arms sales commitments to Taiwan
By William Lowther
STAFF REPORTER , WASHINGTON
Wednesday, Sep 22, 2010, Page 1
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg
addresses a conference on the impact of US-China relations on Asia at the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington on Monday.
PHOTO: CNA
US Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg told a major conference on US-China
relations that Washington retains a ¡§very strong commitment¡¨ to Taiwan.
While acknowledging that US ties with Beijing were improving, he said: ¡§There is
a very strong commitment and appreciation for the tremendous achievements that
the people of Taiwan have accomplished both in the economic and especially in
the political sphere.¡¨
Steinberg, a powerful US policymaker, was asked at the Wilson Center conference
if the ¡§passion¡¨ had gone out of US-Taiwan relations.
He replied: ¡§It¡¦s a dangerous road for me to go down, to talk about passion and
diplomacy, but I would simply say that at its core, it is an unofficial
relationship that we have with Taiwan.¡¨
¡§We have enormous respect for the very vibrant, open, democracy that Taiwan has
and so if Americans can be passionate about anything, it is continued commitment
to our engagement through the Taiwan Relations Act and all of the other elements
that are characterized in the unofficial relationship,¡¨ Steinberg said.
It was the strongest reassurance given by the administration of US President
Barack Obama with respect to US commitments to Taiwan in some time, appearing to
trump comments that came later and hinted at the possibility of the US halting
arms sales to Taiwan.
Steinberg said it was crucial for the US to have close dialogue with China ¡X
particularly at the military-to-military level ¡X so that the two countries could
reassure each other ¡§particularly in areas where there is some inherent
ambiguity about the nature of our activities.¡¨
¡§There are also risks as we go forward. No area is more potentially fraught with
danger to the constructive, stable relationship, than the evolution of the
Chinese military,¡¨ he said. ¡§If we don¡¦t talk to each other, the risk of
miscalculation or misunderstanding will be very high.¡¨
¡§And so we place enormous importance on military-to-military dialogue and a
broader security dialogue. We are encouraged that we seem poised to move back in
a more constructive direction to begin re-engagement on that front,¡¨ he said.
Yuan Ming (°K©ú), a professor at Peking University, was unable to attend the
conference as planned because of an injury suffered in a recent car accident.
However, in her prepared remarks read at the conference, she said: ¡§The special
issue of arms sales to Taiwan remains a hard knot to untie.¡¨
Yuan said that if the US failed to take steps ¡§to loosen the knot,¡¨ it would
invite sharp criticism from the Chinese people, especially the younger
generation.
If something was not done about the arms sales, ¡§the military-to-military
dialogue should be quite a full dialogue,¡¨ she said.
¡§I am trying to perceive what Yuan Ming meant about Taiwan,¡¨ retired US Admiral
Eric McVadon said. ¡§I wonder if it might be time ¡X with this good relationship
between the presidents of the US and China ¡X to have more candor on the Taiwan
issue. Can we move to a point of agreeing to disagree, with both sides being
militarily ready, but at the same time with the easing of relations that you
don¡¦t have to worry quite as much? Can we try to put the Taiwan issue behind us
a little bit, or at least keep it from coming to the fore. Was Yuan Ming
alluding to such a thing?¡¨
¡§We do have to address the Taiwan arms question, it¡¦s time to do that,¡¨ said
Douglas Paal, vice president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
in Washington and a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan.
¡§I would infer that Yuan Ming was reflecting what we have all heard in China
recently, which was that tensions are so reduced across the [Taiwan] Strait,
that China has made a significant contribution in reducing those tensions,
especially through the ECFA [Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement] and
restraint in political dealings and agreeing to limitations that Taiwan
requests, that the US ought to show similar restraint in arms sales,¡¨ Paal said.
¡§There are quite a few people articulating that point of view officially and
unofficially in China,¡¨ he said. ¡§I am aware of two private dialogues going on
in the US about whether ... there is a way for the US to sit down and have the
two presidents discuss whether there can be some mutual restraints.¡¨
¡§It will be very interesting to see how these private dialogues unfold,¡¨ he
said.
¡§My personal guess would be this is something that if it is ever going to be
done it is going to be done by a hardcore Republican administration. And it
won¡¦t be done with an administration with the composition and character of the
current administration,¡¨ he said.
¡§The people in China who think this might be the moment are probably going to be
disappointed,¡¨ Paal said.
While no one spelled it out at the conference, what may be at issue is a plan
under which the US would stop selling arms to Taiwan in return for some
assurance that Beijing would not launch a military takeover.
However, there has been no word that such talks are seriously underway at a
policy-setting level within the Obama administration and there was certainly no
indication of that in Steinberg¡¦s keynote address.
Asked later by the Taipei Times about the ¡§private dialogues¡¨ he referred to,
Paal said: ¡§I simply know that two small groups of private individuals think
there ought to be a way for the US and China to discuss means to reduce the arms
buildup across the Strait, a goal a great many share.¡¨
¡§They are private and I respect their privacy. How to do what they desire
without running downside risks seems to be very hard to achieve,¡¨ he said.
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