Washington, March 7 (CNA) A senior US Defense Department official said on Tuesday that the US has responded with the firmest possible commitment to the challenge of Beijing's white paper on Taiwan, in order to preserve peace and stability.
At a news briefing on US Secretary of Defense William Cohen's coming trip to Asia, the official said: "The publication of the white paper came at an unusually bad time, and was provocative and undermined confidence as a whole."
"The most important thing in this context is for the United States to respond to any challenge with the firmest possible commitment to preserve peace and stability, and I think that's exactly what we've done," he noted.
Dubbing US Under Defense Secretary Walter Slocombe "Mr. Incalculable" for his strong response to Beijing's white paper, the official said: "Slocombe's statement speaks very clearly for our desire to maintain peace and stability."
Slocombe had warned Beijing in a recent interview with the Washington Post that mainland China's use of military force against Taiwan would bring up incalculable consequences.
He went on: "The US policy is and should be about not outcome, because ultimately that's for the people of the PRC and Taiwan to determine for themselves. Our primary objective is to provide a peaceful context for any discussions to take place. And we believe, fundamentally, that that context should involve a clear understanding that maintaining peace and stability is at the heart of real progress ...." (By Jay Chen and Flor Wang)
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