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U.S. supports improved Taiwan-China relations: U.S. defense secretary

ROC Central News Agency

2013/06/01 20:46:55

Singapore, June 1 (CNA) United States Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Saturday the U.S. strongly supports the efforts made by Taiwan and China over the past few years in improving bilateral relations, adding that U.S. relations with China is an 'essential part' of its 'Return to Asia' policy.

'We have an enduring interest in peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait,' said Hagel in his speech, entitled the 'U.S. Approach to Regional Security', which he made at a regional security forum in Singapore. The meeting was attended by a high-level Chinese military delegation.

Hagel's visit in the city state marked his first visit to Asia in his capacity as the U.S. defense secretary. It also came ahead of new Chinese President Xi Jinping's scheduled meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama in California next week.

Hagel stressed that the U.S. remains firm in its adherence to a one-China policy based on the three joint U.S.-China communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act.

He said the U.S. welcomes and supports a prosperous and successful China that contributes to regional and global problem solving, adding that the U.S. has consistently supported a role for China in regional and global economic and security institutions, such as the G20.

But he also noted that the U.S. and China still have differences on human rights issues, as well as on Syria and various regional security issues in Asia. But the key was for these differences to be addressed on the basis of 'a continuous and respectful dialogue,' he added.

Hagel noted that the dialogue between the U.S. and China's armed forces has been steadily improving. He pointed to the U.S.'s invitation for China to participate in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise, the Pacific's largest multilateral naval exercise, and the first-ever joint counter-piracy exercise both sides held in the Gulf of Aden.

Liu Fu-kuo, a researcher at National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations, told CNA that Hagel's talk on cross-strait relations and the U.S.'s adherence to the three joint U.S.-China communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act were aimed at reiterating the U.S.'s long-held stance.

Liu also noted that Hagel's speech in Singapore was not as strong as that of former U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta's in his last year in office when Panetta revealed at the annual forum that the U.S. was planning to deploy 60 percent of the U.S. fleet to the Asia-Pacific region by 2020.

He noted that Hagel's stress on having dialogues with China was aimed at paving the way for Xi's upcoming summit with Obama.

Arthur Ding, acting director of National Chengchi University's International Relations Institute, said the key to Xi and Obama's meeting next week will be whether the two would touch upon the development of 'G2' that would see the world's two biggest decision-makers take their bilateral ties to a whole new level.

(By Lu Hui-hsin and Ann Chen)
ENDITEM/cs