• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

U.S. Department of State

Daily Press Briefing

.................

QUESTION: Okay, and on Taiwan, you said yesterday that the Taiwanese had indicated to the United States that there was no change of policy in its recent statements on one-China policy. Yet today, apparently, they've come out and made some more statements, which everybody is reading as re-enforcing this image that they indeed have changed their policy. I just wondered if you're as confident today as you were yesterday that there is no change.

MR. RUBIN: Well, I didn't express confidence that there wasn't change yesterday. Yesterday I said what they said. Yesterday, following Director Johnson's meeting with President Lee, Taiwan issued a press statement that quoted President Lee as saying that Taiwan's mainland policy has not changed.

It is up to the Taiwan authorities to make any further clarification or explanation of their position.

QUESTION: All right, well, then, given what they've said today, has that helped the situation, as you were urging them --

MR. RUBIN: Well, we have not regarded this episode as helpful. It's been unhelpful to the prospect of continuing the cross-Strait dialogue. I think we've been quite clear on that. It's really up to the parties to take the steps necessary or not take the - make the statements that would be required for the cross-Strait dialogue to be meaningful, to be substantive and to occur.

It will be up to the Taiwan authorities and others to make the necessary interactions with the Chinese that will enable this dialogue to go forward. I think the test of how significant this rhetorical exchange is going to be is whether there's dialogue and not whether it's twisted one day this way and twisted back another day another way.

So from our standpoint, we haven't regarded this episode as helpful. I don't think it's been as dramatic as other rhetorical episodes in the past, but it is significant. We don't think it's beneficial for these kind of statements to be made or the reactions to them. But we will be urging the parties to proceed with a dialogue. And as far as the different nuances of their statements are concerned, I think it's really up to them to explain. And as far as our satisfaction level, as I said yesterday, will come only in the continuation of the dialogue.

QUESTION: One more. If Taiwan were to declare independence in a way that was apparent to everyone and this raised or brought about a conflict with China, would the United States still feel it has an obligation to defend Taiwan?

MR. RUBIN: Well, as far as our position on China's potential use of force against Taiwan, we have said that the future of Taiwan is a matter for the Chinese people. We have an abiding interest that any resolution be peaceful. We encourage the two sides to engage in a substantive, cross-Strait dialogue. We also, in the Taiwan Relations Act, provide that it is our policy to consider any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific area and of grave concern to the United States. That is our policy on any use of force.

I'm not going to try to parse what the different paths to the use of force are and what impact they may have. Let me just say that we oppose any use of force and it is our policy that any effort to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means will be a threat to the peace and security of the Western Pacific and of greatest concern to the United States.

As far as Taiwan making any declarations, I think I've been quite clear that we have a one-China policy and we don't support Taiwan independence.

QUESTION: Going back to - somewhat along those lines - going back to the initial question about the Chinese announcement, for the last two days you've been saying that it's not helpful for these kind of bombastic statements to be made back and forth. Even if it is not linked, even if the Chinese - Beijing's gleefully proclaiming that they have the neutron bomb isn't linked in the US mind to the Taiwanese statements, surely you don't think it's helpful for that situation; do you?

MR. RUBIN: I don't think it's a surprise to anyone that China has a nuclear weapons capability. The fact of the matter is, every day in every country people that have nuclear weapons capability may or may not talk about it.

I don't think that any of the statements that make cross-Strait dialogue less likely or less likely to be successful are helpful. I don't think any reactions to statements that are less likely to yield a dialogue or a successful dialogue are helpful. As far as Carole's question and your repeat of that question, we don't see a connection here, given the pattern of conversation on China's nuclear capability that has been going on day after day, week after week here in the United States and in China for many, many weeks now as a result of the Cox Committee Report.

QUESTION: But it doesn't matter whether there's a connection or not. Does this statement and this press conference that they held to announce this, even if it was well-known before, does it effect in any way the cross-Strait dialogue?

MR. RUBIN: That will be determined by whether there is a cross-strait dialogue and whether that dialogue is successful. That is what we will judge or be satisfied by.

QUESTION: You just said it shouldn't be a surprise to anybody that China has nuclear weapons. Was it well-known to the US Government that they had a neutron bomb?

MR. RUBIN: I think it's been well-known for some time. This question of the neutron bomb was address in the Jeremiah Report some time ago.

QUESTION: Okay, I'm still puzzled by your saying that you don't see the connection between the Taiwan episode and this statement. The Cox Report has been out for more than a month. This comes in the middle of this back-and-forth between Taiwan and Beijing. If you don't see the connection, certainly Taiwan would have a logical reason to see a connection; wouldn't you think?

MR. RUBIN: You'll have to ask them. Anything else?

.................

[end of document]