Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

U.S. OPPOSES NON-PEACEFUL MEANS ON TAIWAN ISSUE: BOUCHER

ROC Central News Agency

2005-03-09 12:11:53

    Washington, March 8 (CNA) Commenting on China's proposed anti-secession law, a U.S. State Department spokesman said Tuesday that the United States has always opposed any attempt to determine the future of Taiwan by non-peaceful means.

    Although the full text of the anti-secession law targeting Taiwan has not actually been released, Wang Zhaoguo, a deputy chairman of the Chinese National People's Congress Standing Committee, described the keys points of the law Tuesday to the nearly 3,000 NPC members gathered at the Great Hall of the People. The law includes the authorization of non-peaceful actions to resolve the Taiwan issue in certain situations.

    When asked about this point, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher quoted a journalist as noting that the anti-secession law calls for non-peaceful means possibly to be directed at Taiwan. "We have always opposed any attempt to determine the future of Taiwan by other than peaceful means," Boucher said. "We've talked about this with people in the PRC as well as people on Taiwan. We've had continuing discussions with both sides and we expect that dialogue and discussion will continue," he added.

    Meanwhile, he also said that the anti-secession legislation issue had not come up when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice talked with her Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing, over telephone the day before.

    When asked whether Rice will raise the issue during her meetings with Chinese leaders when she visits Beijing next week, Boucher said that "if eventually I confirm that she's going to make a trip and that China might be part of that trip, then I would expect her to discuss the Taiwan questions in Beijing."

    In a written statement issued Tuesday evening, the State Department said that Rice and other members of the U.S. administration have expressed concern to Chinese officials that the anti-secession law "may be counterproductive and is not helpful in the current environment, where there are opportunities for exchanges that could move forward a peaceful resolution of outstanding cross-strait differences."

(By Oliver Lin and Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM/Li