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U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

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QUESTION: On China, apparently it was well known that China had neutron bomb capability but now it's sort of gone public and brandished this weapon in a rhetorical way. And in the midst of this Taiwan controversy, I just wondered how you read that. And I have a follow-up

MR. RUBIN: Well, we don't read it in any particular way. This was well known and, as you know, the Jeremiah Report assessed the damage that may have been caused by security breaches and what potential there was for how this particular weapon was developed. As far as I know, this was a response to the Cox Committee Report, and we don't see any connection to the Taiwan incident. They've been responding regularly to aspects of the Cox Committee Report.

QUESTION: So you think that China making this statement at this time was just a response to the Cox Commission, and wasn't intended to -

MR. RUBIN: I don't think it's any secret to the people of the world that China has a very small nuclear capability.

QUESTION: Right, but I mean the fact that they sort of made public statements about this now, you don't see that as part of a psychological warfare --

MR. RUBIN: We don't see the connection.

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QUESTION: Another subject - do you have any update on the US delegation concerning compensation of the NATO bombing?

MR. RUBIN: I do not have - oh, in China. I didn't know there was another one, but I was temporarily confused by the question and this terribly organized book I have in front of me. Our legal advisor, David Andrews, is there. He's been continuing to engage in meetings on the subject. The meetings are continuing. He is now holding talks with the team led by the Director General of the Foreign Minister's International Treaties and Law Department.

QUESTION: (Inaudible.)

MR. RUBIN: Yes. The Director General of the Foreign Ministry's International Treaties and Law Department, Mr. -- (inaudible). The talks began Thursday, will continue on Friday. I understand Mr. Andrews will be making some public comments at the conclusion of his discussions in Beijing to a wide group of journalists, as always occurs when American officials and Susan Shirk are in China.

QUESTION: I have another comment. Back to this whole China issue --

MR. RUBIN: As always should occur when senior officials and Susan Shirk are in China.

QUESTION: You've consistently said that the United States has a one-China policy; that we oppose any use of force. China has repeatedly said -- and even more so yesterday -- that they are going to take action, they are going to take military force on Taiwan if they make any independent efforts. They said, in fact, in their People's Daily that "we will not tolerate separatist conspiracies nor sit idly by to watch even one inch of territory go". What is going to be the reaction of the United States if indeed China does take military action?

MR. RUBIN: I just indicated in response to a set of questions from one of your colleagues that we do have the Taiwan Relations Act, and that in that act we make clear that any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means would be a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States. The President and Congress will determine any appropriate action by the United States under the circumstances.

We obviously - and let me repeat if it's not obvious - strongly oppose any attempt to resolve this problem in any other way other than through peaceful means and through dialogue. As far as what response we would make, that is as far as we have ever gone and I don't intend to change that.

QUESTION: First on that point - there are two ways one could look at what you just said: just sort of a matter of fact statement of where the US is; or, in this context, which is a rather volatile context, a real strong message to China that we're going to be on guard and we are on guard and we'll be at the ready if Taiwan is threatened. How strongly are you trying to put that message across today?

MR. RUBIN: There is no day in which we would want to have anything but a strong message to China that any attempt to resolve this question in any other way but through peaceful means would be acceptable or tolerated by the United States. We would consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other then peaceful means as a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States. That's about as strong a statement as one can make. There is no day in any year in which we wouldn't want China to know very clearly that that is our view.

QUESTION: Another one. These comments have been going on over several days and I wondered whether the fact that they're continuing - not just on the Taiwanese side but also from Beijing - are you becoming increasingly concerned that maybe China is moving towards some --

MR. RUBIN: We haven't seen any change in posture that would indicate an escalation of this situation. Let me say that we've had rhetorical issues become major problems between China and Taiwan in the past and they've been more serious in the nature of the rhetoric used than this one. But we are concerned; we regard the statements and the reactions to statements both as unhelpful to the people concerned and to the region, and want both parties to focus on what is necessary to continue the cross-Strait dialogue and make meaningful, substantive progress in that dialogue.

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