"It is our view," he went on, "that the recent statements and proposals coming out of Taiwan ... would imply a desire to change the status quo."
McClellan refused to discuss the possibility of any retaliatory action by Washington, such as sanctions or reduced arms sales, calling them "hypotheticals."
"I think we will continue to emphasize what we already have," he said
A source from the Presidential Office echoed this, but at the same time, said that Chen has "fully noted" Bush's serious concern.
They said that Bush was under pressure from his own National Security Council (NSC).
"We understand that the Bush administration's NSC seems to be less trustful of Taiwan," the source said. "However, President Bush's remark still showed that the US government has left space for more communication between the two sides."
The sources said that they had worked out a number of scenarios in connection with Wen's trip and little that was said surprised them.
The only two elements that did surprise them were Bush's saying he was "opposed" to the defensive referendum rather than using a weaker formula such as "does not support" and Bush's direct criticism of the "leader of Taiwan" instead of referring to the Taiwan government in general terms.
Deputy Secretary-General to the President Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) also said that Taiwan would like to show understanding that the US government must make a goodwill gesture to Wen, but Taiwan was also comforted by the fact that the Bush administration had shown no special favor toward China in the triangular US-Taiwan-China relationship.
"We can see that the US reaffirmed it will get `involved' if China takes military action against Taiwan," Wu said
"And the remark was not modified by any precondition such as an act of provocation by Taiwan," he said, adding " we can say that the US intended to make its stance clearer to both sides of Taiwan Strait," he said.
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