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U.S.-China spat would not turn uncontrollable: former premier

ROC Central News Agency

2010/02/05 11:21:31

Washington, Feb. 4 (CNA) Washington and Beijing may have given each other a hard time over a host of disputes, including arms sales to Taiwan, the Google controversy and the Dalai Lama, but such spats would not escalate to an uncontrollable, a senior adviser to President Ma Ying-jeou said here Thursday.

On the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, Liu Chao-hsiuan, who is leading a Taiwan delegation to attend the U.S. National Prayer Breakfast (NPB) Feb. 3-5, said there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that the United States and China may get tougher with each other over the arms sales plan, although it still remains to be seen how that would unfold, he said.

The good news is that both Beijing and Washington have said they have no wish to see tensions mounting to an uncontrollable level and both sides have at least exercised self-restraint, said Liu, who served as Taiwan's premier from May 2008 to September 2009.

Liu, along with ruling Kuomintang Legislator Lin Yi-shih and VIA Technologies and HTC chairwoman Cher Wang, attended the 2010 NPB in Washington, D.C. Thursday morning.

Before and after the NPB, the Taiwan delegation met with U.S. officials, members of Congress and experts from U.S. think tanks to exchange views on issues of mutual concern.

On the controversy over U.S. beef exports to Taiwan, the three delegates told their U.S. hosts that the beef issue should not be dealt with emotionally, according to Liu.

In addition, they said, the decision by Taiwan's legislature to pass an amendment to ban U.S. beef offal and ground beef from entering Taiwan was in line with the people's will.

"Our explanation of the issue has been acknowledged by some of our U.S. hosts," Liu told the Central News Agency.

However, it would be reasonable to assume that the beef controversy could undermine any plans by the U.S. to grant visa free treatment to Taiwanese visitors, he said.

(By Zep Hu and Deborah Kuo) ENDITEM /pc