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CHINA'S MISSILES AIMED AT TAIWAN HEIGHTEN TENSIONS: U.S. OFFICIAL

2003-12-17 12:12:25

    Washington, Dec. 16 (CNA) U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Tuesday refused to comment on the Taiwan vice president's criticism of mainland China's missiles aimed at the island as a form of "state terrorism" but said that Washington has always considered such deployment as heightening cross-strait tensions.

    Vice President Annette Lu, in an interview with Reuters Tuesday, said that "the 496 missiles deployed against Taiwan are no joke. We should let the world know this kind of state terrorism already exists."

    In response to a question raised at a daily press briefing regarding Lu's comments, Boucher said he "does not want to get into the political rhetoric that's in Taiwan or how various people phrase things."

    However, the spokesman said that the missiles "have always been a factor in our thinking as we seek to make sure that we are living up to our obligations vis-a-vis Taiwan's legitimate defensive needs."

    Boucher also said that Washington has felt that "missile deployments are not conducive to dialogue, " and that "we have always supported resolution of the issues in this region by dialogue."

(By Jay Chen and P.C. Tang)

Enditem/Li