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Published on Taipei Times http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2006/04/18/2003303283 Taiwan won't be top issue at Bush-Hu talks: analyst PRIORITIES: A senior fellow at a US think tank said that the trade imbalance, undervalued yuan and security issues would all be more pressing topics for discussionCNA, NEW YORK Tuesday, Apr 18, 2006, Page 3
Taiwan is not expected to be the top subject in the forthcoming meeting between US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao ( Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, said that from the US point of view, the Taiwan issue will only be third on the list in the Bush-Hu meeting scheduled for Thursday. The most pressing issues that Bush is expected to discuss with Hu are the US trade deficit with China and the undervalued Chinese currency, as well as global security issues involving North Korea and Iran, Economy said. The Bush administration is also expected to push China to engage in a partnership with the US to share responsibilities in the international community, she added.
Economy acknowledged that from China's perspective, Taiwan will always rank as the most or second-most important issue for discussion in meetings like the Bush-Hu one, and Beijing will certainly raise the issue of US arms sales to Taiwan as well as President Chen Shui-bian's ( Nevertheless, she said, there have been no incidents regarding Taiwan over the past several weeks that were prominent enough to make it the centerpiece of the Bush-Hu meeting. To the US, particularly Congress, the trade deficit, the value of the Chinese yuan and intellectual property rights (IPR) protection are the most crucial issues to be tackled, Economy said, adding that the US' trade deficit with China exceeded US$200 billion last year and that Congress has become increasingly concerned about fairness in trade with China. Just recently, she said, Washington and Beijing announced at a meeting of the Joint Commission on Commerce and Trade several measures regarding IPR protection and the opening of China's telecommunications market. The purpose of the meeting was apparently to pave the way for Bush and Hu to arrive at concrete conclusions in their meeting, she said. The key was whether Hu would implement the measures, she said.
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