POSSIBILITY OF CROSS-STRAIT CONFLICT HAS LESSENED: U.S. OFFICIAL
ROC Central News Agency
2007-01-19 17:55:09
Washington, Jan. 19 (CNA) China has been working to improve its relations with the United States, Europe, Japan and other neighboring countries over the past year, which has lowered the possibility of conflict across the Taiwan Strait, the U.S. intelligence chief claimed Thursday.
Testifying before a hearing in the House of Representatives, Director of National Intelligence John D. Negroponte noted that Beijing made it a priority last year to develop positive relations with the United States and at the same time tried to strengthen its relations with other superpowers such as the European Union and Russia.
In addition, China's leaders also put great emphasis on developing friendships with neighboring countries to ensure border peace and prevent containment by other superpowers, Negroponte said.
He said Beijing has made significant progress in improving its relations with Japan since the inauguration of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and has engaged with many multilateral organizations, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
All these developments lower the possibility of conflict between China and Taiwan, he claimed.
However, Negroponte pointed out that China's military modernization has been going on rapidly since 1999 and is not going to stop even if the so-called "Taiwan question" is resolved.
He said that in addition to developing medium-range and short-range ballistic missiles, China is developing a long-range strike system that is capable of attacking American frigates and naval bases.
(By Jorge Liu and Y.F. Low)
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