The White House has warned that China's speedy missile buildup aimed at Taiwan is "destabilizing" and has repeated its call for both sides to settle cross-Strait issues peacefully.
The comments, by White House spokesman Scott McClellan, came a day after the Pentagon's report on China's increased military threat.
"We've made it very clear that China's rapid build-up of weapons, particularly missiles opposite of Taiwan is something that is destabilizing, McClellan told reporters. "And we will fulfill our commitments under the Taiwan Relations Act."
McClellan said the US has "always remained committed" to that law, and has "expressed concerns about the Chinese taking steps to increase their weaponry."
"But, again, the best way for the two sides to resolve their differences is through a peaceful dialogue. And we encourage the parties to pursue that dialogue," he said in response to a series of questions about the report, which was released Wednesday.
Developing credible military options for a Taiwan scenario remains the focus of China's military modernization, the report the Pentagon's latest annual report to Congress on China's military posture said. It also painted a picture of an increasingly sophisticated Chinese military, with Chinese defense spending expected to double in coming years.
The tough-worded report came as Washington is in delicate negotiations with Beijing over the North Korean nuclear threat, trying to get China to take a more active role in getting negotiations going, aimed at revolving the crisis.
That fact has prompted some Washington observers to wonder why the report was issued now, rather than being delayed until the situation was calmer as the Pentagon has done in the past.
In related news, the US and China are planning an exchange of top-level military visits later this year in what appears to be a near-return to normal bilateral military relations, but US officials say the visits will not affect US military commitments to Taiwan.
China's Minister of National Defense, General Cao Gangchuan (曹剛川), is slated to visit Washington in November, and the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Richard B. Myers, is planning to travel to Beijing soon after that, Pentagon officials say. In addition, the two sides are planning to conduct reciprocal ship visits to each other's naval bases.
The meetings, which were arranged "a couple of months ago," according to a US defense official, will be highest-level military talks of the George W. Bush presidency.
While planning for the trip is not yet firm, the two sides are expected to discuss "big picture" items. these will include "common security interests and concerns," the official said.
Taiwan is certain to come up during the meetings, but the visits could have an indirect benefit on US-Taiwan relations, a defense official told the Taipei Times.
"It will help the Chinese officers gain an appreciation and understand the seriousness of our commitment to help Taiwan under the Taiwan Relations Act" and America's demand for a peaceful settlement of cross-Strait issues, the official said.
"They will learn this face-to-face, and it may change some Chinese thinking" toward the Taiwan issue, he said.
The decision to upgrade US-China military ties does not reflect any change in US policy toward Taiwan, he said.
The visits will be the culmination of efforts by Beijing and Washington to improve military-to-military relations since the EP-3 incident in April 2001 caused Washington to break off military contacts.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2