Taiwanese Representative to the US Jason Yuan (袁健生) said in Washington on Sunday he did not think the upcoming visit to the US by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) would jeopardize Taiwan’s interests.
Yuan said Taiwan-US relations were “the best in 60 years” — as described by former US ambassador to China Winston Lord. This can mainly be attributed to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) “-surprise-free” approach, which has won praise in Washington and has helped stabilize bilateral relations, Yuan said.
Washington has recently briefed Taiwan on Hu’s visit to the US, which is scheduled for Jan. 18 through Jan. 20, and has agreed that in the future it will brief Taiwan before and -immediately after important US-China meetings, Yuan said.
Washington has also given assurances that it will not allow Hu’s visit to jeopardize US relations with any other country, the diplomat said.
Taiwan was informed at the briefing that the situation on the Korean Peninsula would be the focus of Hu’s talks with US President Barack Obama, Yuan said.
The US has been looking to Beijing to help address the North Korean nuclear weapons issue and help maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula, he said.
Yuan has just returned to the US after a visit to Taiwan during which he told a legislative committee that he does not think Hu and Obama would issue a joint statement after their meeting in Washington.
Taiwanese legislators expressed disappointment over a China-US joint statement issued in November 2009 during Obama’s visit to Beijing.
In the statement, the two countries underscored “the importance of the Taiwan issue in US-China relations.” China also said “the ‘Taiwan issue’ concerns China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” and expressed the hope that the US would “honor its relevant commitments and appreciate and support the Chinese side’s position on this issue.”
Bonnie Glaser, a Washington-based China studies expert, said at a recent symposium that it would be extremely surprising if Hu and Obama issued another joint statement this time.
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