The US and China on Friday held top-level talks on Taiwan, with Washington working pre-emptively to avoid fallout as a decision nears on whether to sell fighter jets to Taiwan.
Wang Yi (王毅), China’s top official charged with Taiwan, met with US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined part of the closed-door session, a US Department of State official said.
It was the latest step in a huge lobbying effort by Beijing to ensure that the US does not sell advanced F-16C/D aircraft to Taipei. A decision on the proposed sale will be announced on or before Oct. 1.
Insiders said later that while “nothing new” emerged from the session, Chinese opposition to the sale of the new F-16s is probably greater than to any previously proposed arms sale.
While it remains impossible to say just how much impact the Chinese lobbying has had, many Washington commentators expect US President Barack Obama to turn down Taiwan’s request for 66 of the F-16C/Ds, but to offer to refit and upgrade the country’s existing fleet of older F-16A/B jets.
Mark Toner, the Department of State’s deputy spokesman, played down the significance of Wang’s four-day visit, saying: “He’s just visiting as part of a sustained dialogue with China on a broad range of mutual interests, including cross-strait relations.”
Pressed hard for some indication of how the talks on arms sales had progressed, Toner said: “You know, I’m not aware. Our policy on arms sales is very clear and well known. There is no decision yet on arms sales to Taiwan. I think it’s important that we have dialogue with China on a range of issues, including cross-strait relations. That doesn’t, certainly, preclude our strong relations with Taiwan, but I think it’s important that we have these kind of positive exchanges and talk about a range of issues.”
“We continue to make available to Taiwan defense articles and services to help them maintain a sufficient self-defense capability, but no decisions have been made on potential arms sales,” he said.
A Chinese official said later that Wang had used the meeting with Clinton to reiterate China’s strong opposition to US arms sales to Taiwan.
China’s Xinhua news agency said Wang “stressed that the Chinese mainland has been steadfast in opposing the US arms sales to Taiwan, because it harms Sino-US ties and the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.”
An independent expert on US-China relations said Wang had made a thinly veiled threat to break off all military-to-military direct contact between the US and China if the F-16C/Ds were sold.
Earlier in the week, Wang met with US Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and Daniel Russel, senior director for Asian affairs at the White House National Security Council.
However, China is not the only one lobbying on the arms sales issue. Taiwanese Government Information Office Minister Philip Yang (楊永明) and Mainland Affairs Council Minister Lai Shin-yuan (賴幸媛) both visited the US this month to urge Washington to sell the advanced fighters to Taipei.
Meanwhile, the Pentagon offered praise on Friday after China made a rare acknowledgment that it is building its first aircraft carrier. State television on Wednesday broadcast footage of the old Soviet ship, which is being refitted in the port city of Dalian. The defense ministry said the carrier would be used for “scientific research, experiments and training.”
“That’s a good sign to us. We’ve always talked about the need for transparency so that we better understand what their intentions are,” Pentagon spokesman Colonel Dave Lapan told reporters.
He said the Pentagon was already well aware of the carrier project, “but it’s at least a positive sign that they are being more forthcoming.”
China showed footage of the carrier at a time of high tensions on the South China Sea with Vietnam and the Philippines. China’s defense ministry did not say when the carrier would be finished.
At a joint news conference during Mullen’s visit, China’s military chief General Chen Bingde (陳炳德) defended the project and said that the US has 11 aircraft carriers in service.
“China is a big country [and] we only have quite a small number of ships, but small ships. And this is not commensurate with the status of the country of China,” Chen said.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
A US uncrewed surface vessel (USV) encountered multiple Chinese warships during an autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait, US defense company Seasats said in a statement on Wednesday. Seasats announced that a Lightfish USV had completed the first autonomous transit of the Taiwan Strait. Over five days, the USV traversed the entire length of the Strait while constantly monitoring surface vessel traffic, the company said. The Lightfish encountered multiple Chinese warships, one of which was a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 056 corvette, it said. The Chinese vessels were operating “well within Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone without transmitting their identity via the
GREATER REACH? Auto parts and wood products would face tariffs of up to 15%, matching those targeting the EU, Japan and South Korea, Vice Premier said The US has announced that preferential tariff treatment for Taiwan’s non-semiconductor Section 232 goods would take effect retroactively from May 1, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The US government yesterday posted a notice on the Federal Register’s public inspection Web site previewing tariff concessions for Taiwan under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on Taiwan-US investment after two months of negotiations. The MOU signed on Jan. 15 stipulated three major preferential tariff arrangements: a 15 percent “reciprocal” tariff rate for Taiwan without stacking most-favored nation (MFN) rates; preferential Section 232 treatment for semiconductors and related products; and preferential Section 232 treatment for non-semiconductor
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS