The US and China are to expand their dialogue to cover counterterrorism, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, although Beijing cautioned against any interference in internal affairs.
“I am pleased to announce that the United States and China will be conducting joint talks on counterterrorism this fall,” Clinton said on Thursday at a business forum attended by China’s National People’s Congress Chairman Wu Bangguo (吳邦國), the second-most powerful man in the Chinese Communist Party after President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).
“Now, we will not see to eye to eye on every issue,” Clinton said. “We have different histories, different experiences, different perspectives, but we must seek to talk honestly and openly, even when agreement is not possible,” she said. “And we are committed to doing so.”
The talks disclosed by Clinton may be the first institutionalized dialogue with China on counterterrorism, regional diplomats said. Clinton did not provide details on particular issues to be discussed.
Wu, whose US visit is the first by any head of China’s powerful National People’s Congress in 20 years, made clear Beijing would rebuff any interference in China’s internal affairs.
“We believe that one should not interfere in other countries’ internal affairs or impose its own will on others,” he said, seeking respect for “each other’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
He also said that Beijing was against any international support for “separatist forces” in Tibet or Taiwan.
“We are against the practice of using differences in perception as an excuse and freedom of religion and speech as a cover to support, or support in a disguised way, separatist forces for ‘Taiwan independence,’ ‘Tibet independence’ and other separatist agendas and meddle in China’s internal affairs,” Wu said.
Wu held talks with US President Barack Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden on Thursday and met with House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi a day earlier, saying his visit had achieved “satisfactory results.”
Clinton said that the two countries had also agreed to hold the next round of a human rights dialogue before the end of the year and also reconvene a bilateral legal experts dialogue.
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
DETERMINATION: Beijing’s actions toward Tokyo have drawn international attention, but would likely bolster regional coordination and defense networks, the report said Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s administration is likely to prioritize security reforms and deterrence in the face of recent “hybrid” threats from China, the National Security Bureau (NSB) said. The bureau made the assessment in a written report to the Legislative Yuan ahead of an oral report and questions-and-answers session at the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The key points of Japan’s security reforms would be to reinforce security cooperation with the US, including enhancing defense deployment in the first island chain, pushing forward the integrated command and operations of the Japan Self-Defense Forces and US Forces Japan, as
INTERCEPTION: The 30km test ceiling shows that the CSIST is capable of producing missiles that could stop inbound missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere Recent missile tests by the Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology (CSIST) show that Taiwan’s missiles are capable of intercepting ballistic missiles as they re-enter the atmosphere and pose a significant deterrent to Chinese missile threats, former Hsiung Feng III missile development project chief engineer Chang Cheng (張誠) said yesterday. The military-affiliated institute has been conducting missile tests, believed to be related to Project Chiang Kung (強弓) at Pingtung County’s Jiupeng Military Base, with many tests deviating from past practices of setting restriction zones at “unlimited” and instead clearly stating a 30.48km range, Chang said. “Unlimited” restrictions zones for missile tests is
NO CHANGES: A Japanese spokesperson said that Tokyo remains consistent and open for dialogue, while Beijing has canceled diplomatic engagements A Japanese official blasted China’s claims that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has altered Japan’s position on a Taiwan crisis as “entirely baseless,” calling for more dialogue to stop ties between Asia’s top economies from spiraling. China vowed to take resolute self-defense against Japan if it “dared to intervene militarily in the Taiwan Strait” in a letter delivered Friday to the UN. “I’m aware of this letter,” said Maki Kobayashi, a senior Japanese government spokeswoman. “The claim our country has altered its position is entirely baseless,” she said on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Johannesburg on Saturday. The Chinese Ministry
RSS