Government officials yesterday welcomed US President George W Bush's reiteration of Washington's stance on Taiwan in his talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
Bush met Hu at the White House in Washington on Thursday, where the two leaders discussed a wide range of issues including trade, human rights, nuclear proliferation and Taiwan.
"In his welcome speech on the White House's South Lawn, President Bush reiterated the US commitment to peace across the Taiwan Strait. [Bush said that] the US would uphold its `one China' policy based on the three Sino-US communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act, remained opposed to any side unilaterally changing the status quo, and that Taiwan's future must be resolved peacefully," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
PHOTO: EPA
"This shows that the US policy remains consistent and unchanged. This shows that the US takes the issue of peace in the Taiwan Strait seriously and remains committed to preserving that peace," the statement said.
Taiwan watched nervously as Bush and Hu held their summit at the White House, fearing that Bush might publicly criticize President Chen Shui-bian (
Although Bush did not say he was opposed to Taiwanese independence, he did say that he did not support it.
Analysts in Taiwan pointed out that Bush saying "I do not support" did not amount to a declaration of opposition.
Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (
Huang commented on Hu's reaction to a question from the press regarding when China would be democratized in which the Chinese president said that he didn't know the definition of "democracy."
"To most people, it's a simple question. Democracy is about people being able to choose their own leader, participate in the policy-making process and that minority opinions are respected and protected," Huang said.
Mainland Affairs Council Deputy Chairman You Ying-lung (游盈隆) said that Bush's remarks that "We [the US] believe the future of Taiwan should be resolved peacefully" dealt a severe blow to China's "Anti-secession" Law.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said he appreciated Bush's support for Taiwan's democracy and maintaining peace across the strait.
While extending gratitude to Bush for reaffirming the US commitment to Taiwan, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman Yu Shyi-kun criticized Hu for calling Taiwan "a part of China."
Hu "upheld the `one China' principle, excluding Taiwanese freedom to opt for independence," Yu said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said Bush's statement on cross-strait relations was a "reiteration of the common stance shared by seven previous US presidents."
Saying the government's action on the National Unification Council had impacted on US-Taiwan relations, Ma said: "We need to be extra careful because even a seemingly insignificant act of negligence could be interpreted as changing the status quo unilaterally."
Additional reporting by Jimmy Chuang and Mo Yan-chih
Also see stories:
`Bu-Hu' meeting bedeviled by flubs
Chinese media whitewashes Hu visit
Pro-Taiwan demonstrators denounce China's buildup
Meeting with Bush only embarrassed Hu, analysts say
AGING: As of last month, people aged 65 or older accounted for 20.06 percent of the total population and the number of couples who got married fell by 18,685 from 2024 Taiwan has surpassed South Korea as the country least willing to have children, with an annual crude birthrate of 4.62 per 1,000 people, Ministry of the Interior data showed yesterday. The nation was previously ranked the second-lowest country in terms of total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime. However, South Korea’s fertility rate began to recover from 2023, with total fertility rate rising from 0.72 and estimated to reach 0.82 to 0.85 by last year, and the crude birthrate projected at 6.7 per 1,000 people. Japan’s crude birthrate was projected to fall below six,
Conflict with Taiwan could leave China with “massive economic disruption, catastrophic military losses, significant social unrest, and devastating sanctions,” a US think tank said in a report released on Monday. The German Marshall Fund released a report titled If China Attacks Taiwan: The Consequences for China of “Minor Conflict” and “Major War” Scenarios. The report details the “massive” economic, military, social and international costs to China in the event of a minor conflict or major war with Taiwan, estimating that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could sustain losses of more than half of its active-duty ground forces, including 100,000 troops. Understanding Chinese
US President Donald Trump in an interview with the New York Times published on Thursday said that “it’s up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) what China does on Taiwan, but that he would be “very unhappy” with a change in the “status quo.” “He [Xi] considers it to be a part of China, and that’s up to him what he’s going to be doing, but I’ve expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don’t think he’ll do that. I hope he doesn’t do that,” Trump said. Trump made the comments in the context
SELF-DEFENSE: Tokyo has accelerated its spending goal and its defense minister said the nation needs to discuss whether it should develop nuclear-powered submarines China is ramping up objections to what it sees as Japan’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, despite Tokyo’s longstanding renunciation of such arms, deepening another fissure in the two neighbors’ increasingly tense ties. In what appears to be a concerted effort, China’s foreign and defense ministries issued statements on Thursday condemning alleged remilitarism efforts by Tokyo. The remarks came as two of the country’s top think tanks jointly issued a 29-page report framing actions by “right-wing forces” in Japan as posing a “serious threat” to world peace. While that report did not define “right-wing forces,” the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was
RSS