Taiwan keeping close watch on China-U.S. summit
ROC Central News Agency
2011/01/13 17:13:32
Taipei, Dec. 13 (CNA) Taiwan is keeping a close eye on an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Barack Obama and his Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao, and will exchange related information with Washington whenever possible, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said Thursday.
Hu is scheduled to visit the United States next week, during which he will hold talks with Obama.
In a report published that day by Taiwan's Liberty Times, Randall Schriver, former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs, was cited as saying that Washington and Beijing are working on a joint statement to be released after the meeting, but the MOFA declined to comment on the report.
While Beijing is pushing for a U.S. compromise on the Taiwan issue, Washington is insisting on drafting the statement on the basis of past protocol, according to the report.
On the just-concluded China visit by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, MOFA spokesman James Chang said Washington is expected to brief Taiwan's representative office in the United States on the details.
Chang said the U.S. arms sales policy toward Taiwan, which is governed by the Taiwan Relations Act, remains unchanged.
While in Beijing two days earlier, Gates reiterated Washington's position on the issue and said there has been no change in the policy.
But Gates also said that "over time, if the environment changes and if the relationship between China and Taiwan continues to improve and the security environment for Taiwan changes, then perhaps that would create the conditions for reexamining all of this." (By Emmanuelle Tzeng and Y.F. Low) ENDITEM/J
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
