US declines to comment on remarks by Singapore

The US has expressed its views on the situation between China and Taiwan many times and will not use the words of someone else to describe its views, a spokesman for the US State Department said on Tuesday.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher made the remarks in a routine briefing when he was asked about a statement by Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released that day.

The statement was a follow-up to earlier remarks by Singapore Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo (楊榮文), who said at the UN General Assembly last Friday that the push toward independence by certain groups in Taiwan is most dangerous because it will lead to war with China and drag in other countries, putting the stability of the region at risk.

Faced with criticism by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (陳唐山) on Monday, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement on Tuesday saying that "this is not the first time Singapore has stated its concerns about Taiwan. Many other countries also believe that Taiwan is pursuing a damaging course toward independence."

Asked if the US shares that concern, Boucher said that he is not going to try to "characterize our views in terms of what somebody else said about somebody else."

Boucher said that he did not know "if that has reference to us or not. I'd leave it to the Singporeans to explain it."

He said that the US' views on cross-strait relations "have been expressed many times. I'll stick with what we said rather than adopt somebody else's words."

The US stance on cross-strait issues is based on its three communiques with China and the Taiwan Relations Act, and it opposes any side taking action to unilaterally change the status quo.