The Bush administration is considering key changes in its policy toward Taiwan as it prepares for President George W. Bush's meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
An academic from an influential think tank said that among the options being considered by top administration foreign policy officials are a public announcement that the US "opposes" Taiwan independence, and a return to the Clinton-era policy of the "three-noes."
The three-noes policy, enunciated during a trip by former president Bill Clinton to China, says the US endorses no Taiwan independence, no "two-Chinas" -- or "one China, one Taiwan" -- and no Taiwan membership in international organizations requiring statehood for membership.
On the independence issue, such a statement would change the current policy that Washington "does not support" Taiwan independence.
China has been pushing the administration to proclaim its opposition to independence for more than a year, and, according to some sources, got Bush to say privately that he opposes independence during his summit meeting with then-Chinese president Jiang Zemin (
The academic's claims could not be confirmed by Taiwanese or US administration sources.
State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli refused to get into a semantic discussion of the issue when asked repeatedly at the regular daily department press briefing.
"I think our policy is clear, and our policy is not to support Taiwanese independence. And that's the position, you know, we have elaborated, that is the position we're going to stick with," he said.
Other sources point to comments made by Randall Schriver, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, at a press briefing for the Taiwan Washington press corps last week that the US' Taiwan policy has not changed. That has been reaffirmed by other administration officials, sources say.
According to the source, this is the timetable for the administration to prepare for Wen's visit and set its Taiwan policy: Yesterday, the so-called deputies committee were to meet, bringing together top China specialists from the foreign policy establishment, which would presumably include the Departments of State and Defense as well as the National Security Council.
Their recommendations will go to their secretary-level bosses today, which will recommend their policy options to Bush tomorrow. Tomorrow's meeting will decide what Bush tells Wen next Tuesday.
"The American leaders are telling the Chinese privately what they will not say publicly," the academic said, citing Bush's alleged statement in Crawford last October.
The source also repeated rumors in Washington that James Moriarty, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice's chief Asia aide, is in Taiwan to discuss military and other issues, despite a denial of Moriarty's visit by the White House Monday.
"Everybody's talking about it, so I assume it's taking place," he said.
Other sources could not confirm the Moriarty trip.
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