The US reaffirmed on Monday its commitment to assisting Taiwan in meeting the nation's legitimate defensive needs in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and the three Washington-Beijing joint communiques.
US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher made the reaffirmation in response to a Washington Times report that China is deploying increasing amounts of short-range missiles against Taiwan.
Boucher said the US government is quite aware of China's military modernization. "It's an issue that we follow," he said.
"There's a limit to what we can say about matters like this because we don't comment on intelligence or information that purports to come from intelligence."
But in terms of the US policy, Boucher went on: "We will continue to assist Taiwan in meeting its legitimate defensive needs. That's in accordance with our obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act and consistent with the US-PRC Joint Communiques."
Boucher said the US has said it looks forward to conversations with Chinese leaders in the near future about Beijing's policies toward the Asia-Pacific region.
Regarding the issue of Russian sales of military technology and advanced arms to China, Boucher said the US is aware of Russian sales of defense-related know-how to China.
"We're certainly aware of these developments. We monitor Russian sales, developments in the Taiwan Strait and modernization of the Chinese military. So this is something that we're quite aware of," he added.
The Washington Times report quoted an unidentified US military official as saying that the number of China's Taiwan-targeted guided missiles was less than 50 in 1998 and surged to 150 the following year. The official estimated the present number at between 200 to 300. The report also predicted that the number could reach 600 to 1,000 in the next few years.
The report also said Russia is selling state-of-the-art ballistic missile technology and strategic nuclear warhead technology to China.
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