The threat by the US to use nuclear weapons against China under certain circumstances is likely to lead to a deterioration in cross-strait relations, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday.
"The development will be detrimental to cross-strait relations since it will only give greater leverage to hawkish members of the Chinese government," the ministry said.
"Taiwan wants to maintain stability and peace in the Taiwan Strait through confidence-building measures. It does not want to see any use of nuclear weapons in the region," it said. "Taiwan is a sovereign country. It has its own self-defense policy, which will not change because of US government policies."
The ministry made the statements yesterday in a written response to inquiries from an opposition party lawmaker over its stance on Washington's reported plan to use nuclear weapons against seven countries, include China, in certain events.
Parts of the Nuclear Posture Review, in which the Pentagon lays out the direction for US nuclear forces over the next five to 10 years, were leaked to the press earlier this month. US President George W. Bush sent the document to US Congress in January.
The defense ministry said it can not be sure whether the US will implement the plan but Taiwan would have to caution against potential counter-productive results generated by the plan.
"Taiwan has been seeking to make the Taiwan Strait become a `nuclear weapons-free' zone. Our stance is that all the Asia-Pacific countries should try their best to avoid nuclear disasters from happening," the ministry said.
"If the security of the Taiwan Strait is to be entangled with the US government's nuclear-arms policy, the triangular relations between Taiwan, China and the US will become even more complicated and the stability and balance of power in the Strait will be greatly changed," it said.
"China will surely harbor greater mistrust and a sense of insecurity toward the US. The result will be greater antagonism and tension between the two nations. Taiwan will be affected as a result," it said.
"Once a war breaks out between the two countries, the Taiwan Strait and neighboring areas will suffer greatly because of the nuclear weapons to be employed."
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