A foreign affairs official yesterday said that a recent joint statement made by the US and Japan was important for Taiwan and regional stability.
The statement, which reaffirmed the strategic objective of the US-Japan security alliance, was released during a recent summit between the US and Japanese leaders, and highlighted the importance of a peaceful solution for cross-strait relations, foreign ministry officials said.
In a press briefing at the foreign ministry yesterday, deputy secretary-general of the ministry's Association of East Asian Relations James Liao (
The statement said that "the two leaders welcomed the establishment of common strategic objectives of February 2005 ... and agreed that full and prompt implementation of these agreements is necessary, not only for Japan and the United States, but also for peace and stability of the Asia-Pacific region."
Although the statement did not go into detail about the "common strategic objective" of a meeting between the US and Japan in February last year, Liao said it was clear that it referred to the inclusion of stability in the Taiwan Strait as one of the goals of the US-Japan security alliance.
"The reaffirmation of this point serves as a stabilizing force for future cross-strait stability and peace, which is very positive to us," Liao said.
Liao said that the core values and common interests of freedom, democracy, human rights and a market economy emphasized by the two leaders in their joint statement are also principles that Taiwan embraces.
"Taiwan is a democratic and free country. President Bush had also praised Taiwan's freedom and democracy as something China can emulate in his last visit to Japan," Liao said.
"From this perspective, the [Bush-Koizumi] joint statement also indirectly recognized our democratic development," he said.
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