U.S. HAS 'CERTAIN RESPONSIBILITIES' TO HELP TAIWAN'S DEFENSE: RICE
ROC Central News Agency
2005-04-21 17:47:01
Washington, April 21 (CNA) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in a recent interview with CNN in Moscow that the United States has certain responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act to help Taiwan defend itself if it is attacked.
Rice gave the interview with Jill Dougherty of CNN during her visit in Moscow Wednesday.
In the interview, Dougherty asked Rice whether the United States has expressed some concern about Russia's arms sales to China.
In response, Rice said the United States is certainly concerned about any efforts or any policies that lead to increased Chinese military capabilities in the Asia-Pacific region. "Taiwan is obviously an issue here, because the United States has certain responsibilities under the Taiwan Relations Act to help Taiwan defend itself if it's attacked, " Rice said.
She further said the U.S. government has talked to the Russians about this. "We've talked especially about the need to recognize the balance of power issues, the balance of forces issues in the Asia-Pacific region. And I might just note that Russia itself, of course, is a Pacific power and should have similar concerns about what could happen to the military balance in the region if Chinese military modernization continues apace," she added.
Russia is China's key weapons supplier.
(By Oliver Lin and Sofia Wu)
enditem/mw
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