Washington, Aug. 1 (CNA) As things now stand, the United States is committed to help defend Taiwan against a mainland Chinese invasion, said Democratic presidential hopeful Bill Bradley on Sunday, although he prefaced his remark by saying he did not want to answer a hypothetical question.
But the former New Jersey senator also said in an interview with NBC's news program "Meet The Press" that if Beijing invaded Taiwan, Bill Bradley, as US president, "would have stepped back a few moves before that and been very clear that the United States should say to the Taiwanese government that if they take steps toward independence, that they cannot count on us for any help."
At the same time, Bradley added, "it should be clear to the People's Republic that if, in the absence of those steps toward independence, they take actions that would be of a military nature toward Taiwan, that we would be there (to help defend Taiwan)."
Bradley said he regretted what President Lee Teng-hui said a few weeks ago about the "special state-to-state relationship" across the Taiwan Strait. "The one nation, one China, is an important policy to be reaffirmed. It's a long -- you have to have a long view here, and I think if we did, that we wouldn't have this problem (of the war of words between Beijing and Taipei."
"I think we should have been clear in advance to make sure that he (President Lee) knows that this is a risk for him to take any step toward independence. At the same time, the People's Republic, the people there can't be surprised or outraged by talk of a democracy," said the former senator. "So there's got to be a meeting of the minds on both sides there in order to prevent this situation from becoming highly volatile and perhaps inflammatory."
(By Nelson Chung)
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