US President George W. Bush says one of the key aims of US-China relations is maintaining stability in East Asia as a way of ensuring a peaceful solution to the Taiwan issue.
Bush made the comment in a press conference on Tuesday in the White House Rose Garden as part of an answer to a question about overall US-China relations.
Regarding Taiwan, Bush said the US-China relationship "is one of helping to solve [the Taiwan] problem as to keeping stability in the region so that eventually there will be a peaceful solution to [the Taiwan] issue."
The statement, which Bush did not elaborate on, came at the end of a short passage in which Bush addressed the Taiwan issue in this way
"Obviously there's tension [in US-China relations] about Taiwan and that we have to deal with, and I made my position very clear and very consistent about Taiwan. The Taiwanese understand my position. The Chinese understand my position," he said.
Experts said they did not feel that the statement represented any change in overall US policy toward cross-strait issues.
"I would not read a whole lot into it," said Bonnie Glaser, a specialist in US-China relations with the Center for Strategic and International Studies at Georgetown University.
Was the president saying that the US and China should join in settling the Taiwan issue?
"No," Glaser said.
"There's been an effort by the administration to encourage Beijing to deal with the DPP [Democratic Progressive Party] government, the duly elected government. If you took the statement out of context, you could interpret it to mean the president is saying the US should cooperate with China to solve the Taiwan issue," she said. But that "would not be consistent with anything he has said before."
"I would not interpret [the statement] as meaning the US wants to work with China to revolve the Taiwan issue. Taiwan is an important player in resolving this problem. It's not something for just Beijing and Washington to resolve," she said.
The main thing, Glaser said, is that Bush feels "China should in no circumstances deal with Taiwan by coercive means; that any approach to Taiwan has to be peaceful."
"Clearly the president's objective in East Asia is stability in the region," said John Tkacik of the Heritage Foundation. "What the president said indicated to me that holding out an eventual peaceful solution to the Taiwan issue is part of a strategy that keeps stability in the region."
"His concern is keeping stability in the region. He's trying to figure out a way to keep that, and his idea is holding out the eventual promise of a peaceful solution [for Taiwan] is key to keeping stability in the region," Tkacik said.
"It is not that he envisions a peaceful solution any time soon, but that there is a need for there to be a prospect of a peaceful solution eventually," Tkacik said.
The Ministry of the Interior (MOI) is to tighten rules for candidates running for public office, requiring them to declare that they do not hold a Chinese household registration or passport, and that they possess no other foreign citizenship. The requirement was set out in a draft amendment to the Enforcement Rules of the Public Officials Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法 ) released by the ministry on Thursday. Under the proposal, candidates would need to make the declaration when submitting their registration forms, which would be published in the official election bulletin. The move follows the removal of several elected officials who were
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
FOUR DESIGNATED AREAS: Notices were issued for live-fire exercises in waters south and northwest of Penghu, northeast of Keelung and west of Kaohsiung, they said The military is planning three major annual exercises across the army, navy and air force this month, with the navy’s “Hai Chiang” (海強, “Sea Strong”) drills running from today through Thursday, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The Hai Chiang exercise, which is to take place in waters surrounding Taiwan, would feature P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and S-70C anti-submarine helicopters, the ministry said, adding that the drills aim to bolster the nation’s offshore defensive capabilities. China has intensified military and psychological pressure against Taiwan, repeatedly sending warplanes and vessels into areas near the nation’s air defense identification zone and across
COVETED PRIZE: The US president would be a peace prize laureate should he persuade Xi Jinping to abandon military aggression against Taiwan, William Lai said US President Donald Trump should get the Nobel Peace Prize should he be able to convince Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) to abandon the use of force against Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) told a conservative US radio show and podcast in an interview. The US is Taiwan’s most important international backer, despite the absence of formal ties, but since Trump took office earlier this year he has not announced any new arms sales to the nation. Trump could meet Xi at the APEC summit in South Korea on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. Lai, speaking on The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton
RSS