Seeking to placate Beijing ahead of next month's visit to the US by Chinese President Hu Jintao (
The talks, known in defense circles as the "Monterey Talks" because they take place in Monterey, California, were scheduled to be held on Sept. 13 and 14, a well-placed local source with access to the information said.
The source requested anonymity, saying that the information he was disclosing was "a bit sensitive."
The reason that the talks had been canceled was because of pressure from the Chinese leadership, which said that holding the talks would "poison the atmosphere" for Hu's trip to the US early next month, the source said, citing conversations with US officials.
Hu is scheduled to meet with US President George W. Bush on Sept. 7 in the White House. It will be the first trip Hu has made to the US since he replaced former president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) as China's supreme leader.
The Monterey Talks are the highest-level security dialogue between the US and Taiwan, and have taken place every year since 1997. It is "the primary forum for addressing strategic concerns associated with the defense of Taiwan," according to one US defense expert.
"The last two meetings included bilateral war-gaming intended to facilitate coordination and reduce response time in the event of Chinese military aggression against Taiwan," the expert said.
The talks, which Taiwan's defense officials describe as "routine," are part of increasing if low-key military cooperation between the US and Taiwan. Some aspects of this cooperation -- such as Taiwan's purchase of advanced weaponry from the US -- attract a lot of political and media attention, but the bulk of US-Taiwan military ties are conducted in a more mundane and low-profile manner.
For example, hundreds of Taiwanese military personnel have -- and continue to be -- trained in the US in a variety of programs, including advanced fighter-jet combat training, special-forces qualification and a wide array of technical and specialty training regimens.
Still, the Monterey Talks are only one part of what Wendell Minnick, the Taiwan correspondent for Jane's Defence Weekly and an expert in cross-strait military affairs, described as an increase in security cooperation between Washington and Taipei in the last five years.
Minnick pointed to the existence of an "emergency hotline" between Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense and the Pentagon as an example of increasingly robust military-to-military ties between the two countries.
Nevertheless, the Bush administration's cancelation of the Monterey Talks clearly angered some US defense experts.
"This is just another example of the Bush Administration's spineless policy on Taiwan, and its disregard of Congressionally mandated obligations to maintain the capacity to respond to Chinese aggression," said one academic, who asked not to be named due to his ongoing ties with US officials.
This would not be the first time that the Bush administration has bowed to Chinese pressure with regard to Taiwan.
In 2003, during the last visit to Washington by senior Chinese officials, the US president issued a public dressing-down to President Chen Shui-bian (
It is not clear if Bush plans to publicly comment on cross-strait matters during Hu's visit, but Chinese and US officials have long used an array of standard phrases to address the issue during high-level meetings, and it seems likely that this will again be the case next month.
also see story:
MOFA begs US not to forget Taiwan
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
’DISTORTION’: Beijing’s assertion that the US agreed with its position on Taiwan is a recurring tactic it uses to falsely reinforce its sovereignty claims, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said Chinese state media deliberately distorted Taiwan’s sovereign status, following reports that US President Donald Trump agreed to uphold the “one China” policy in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). During the more than one-hour-long call, Xi urged Trump to retreat from trade measures that roiled the global economy and cautioned him against threatening steps on Taiwan, a Chinese government summary of the call said. China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying that the US should handle the Taiwan issue cautiously and avoid the two countries being drawn into dangerous
RSS