Washington, Feb. 22 (CNA) US Undersecretary of Defense Walter Slocombe on Tuesday warned Beijing that it faces "incalculable consequences" if it follows through on its threat of force against Taiwan.
Slocombe, who, along with Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott, has just ended two days of high-level security talks in Beijing, was quoted by the Washington Post as saying of the mainland Chinese policy statement carried in Beijing's "white paper" on the Taiwan issue: "If it says what it appears to say, is a new and troubling formula."
Beijing released the sternly worded document just six hours after Talbott and Slocombe left. It warns Taiwan not to push for independence or indefinitely delay negotiations for peaceful unification at the risk of "drastic measures," including military invasion.
The issuance of the white paper took both the US administration and legislature by surprise.
State Department spokesman James Rubin said that during their "intense" security talks in Beijing, Talbott and Slocombe did discuss the issue of Taiwan with high-level Chinese officials, including Vice Premier Qian Qichen and Vice Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi.
During the talks, Rubin said, Beijing did not say a word about its intention to issue the white paper soon. However, he refused to characterize the visit to Beijing by the Talbott delegation as a failure.
Ironically, Talbott and Slocombe attempted during the talks to persuade Beijing to exercise self-restraint in the run-up to Taiwan's March 18 presidential election, according to the Washington Post. (By Herman Pan and Deborah Kuo)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
