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China's stance on Taiwan issues unchanged: Taiwan official

ROC Central News Agency

2013/06/09 19:21:32

Taipei, June 9 (CNA) China's stance on issues related to Taiwan remains unchanged, a Taiwanese official said Sunday, after Chinese President Xi Jinping asked the United States to stop selling arms to Taiwan.

Xi's request, made during his informal summit with U.S. President Barack Obama, represented China's consistent stance on Taiwan and was nothing new, said Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Anna Kao when asked to comment on the meeting.

The U.S. has also made its stance crystal clear, Kao said, referring to remarks by Ben Rhodes, deputy national security advisor for strategic communications and speechwriting at the White House.

According to Rhodes, Obama reiterated to Xi that the U.S.'s commitment to Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), including helping address Taiwan's defense needs, is very clear, she said.

The TRA, enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1979 when Washington and Taipei severed diplomatic ties, commits the U.S. to providing Taiwan with defensive arms.

Obama also stressed that Washington supported improving Taipei-Beijing ties and expected cross-Taiwan Strait relations to make progress in a way that is acceptable to both sides, Kao said.

Taiwan's Foreign Ministry later issued a statement welcoming Obama's remarks regarding Taiwan.

The ministry said Taiwan and the U.S. have had good communications in recent years, and that it believes that Washington will continue to help Taiwan maintain an adequate self-defense based on the TRA and the six assurances.

Taiwan-U.S. relations will continue to move forward on a 'low-profile, zero-surprise' basis, the statement added.

In 1982, then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan offered Taiwan six assurances, including that the U.S. will not set a date for termination of arms sales to Taiwan; will not alter the terms of the TRA; and will not consult with China in advance before making decisions about U.S. arms sales to Taiwan.

Obama and Xi held a two-day meeting in California Friday and Saturday, the first encounter between the leaders of the two countries since Xi became president in March.

At a briefing after the meeting, Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi said Xi told Obama that Beijing hopes Washington will commit itself to the 'one-China' principle, follow the three communiques on which the two sides' ties are based and stop arms sales to Taiwan.

Kao said the U.S. will brief Taiwan on the meeting but declined to say when that would happen.

(By Elaine Hou)
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