US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (楊潔箎) on Wednesday discussed US arms sales to Taiwan during a two-hour lunch in Washington.
While none of the details are known, the talks were part of preparations being made for Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) state visit to the US later this month.
Before the lunch began, Yang said: “I think the China-US relationship is on the right track. We are confronted with common challenges and we are enjoying common opportunities.”
PHOTO: AFP
“It is in the best interests of China and the United States and the world for us to continue to work better so that our relationship will bring more benefits to both our two peoples and to the people of the world,” he said.
Later, after the lunch, US Department of State spokesman Philip Crowley described the meeting as “constructive” and said it covered a wide range of issues, including the agenda for Hu’s White House talks with US President Barack Obama.
He said that among the issues discussed were the current state of the global economy, US-China trade relations, human rights and regional security issues.
“[North] Korea was undoubtedly discussed in the greatest detail,” he said.
Also present for the lunch on the US side were Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell, Under Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Robert Hormats and National Security Adviser Jeff Bader.
Asked if US arms sales to Taiwan were discussed, Crowley said they were, but he refused to give details.
He said Taiwan was included in the list of issues raised by both sides “that we regularly bring up and those did come up.”
Asked to elaborate on the Taiwan discussions, Crowley said: “It was briefly mentioned. It comes up in bilateral discussions on a regular basis. Foreign Minister Yang indicated these are issues in our bilateral relationship. We understand those. And we had our own set of issues and brought those up as well.”
A senior Department of State source said later he “believed” Yang was the first to refer to Taiwan and that he indicated that Hu would expect to discuss it directly with Obama.
“Anytime a US president and a Chinese president get together, it does in fact set an agenda and help to chart a path forward,” Crowley said.
He said it was in the context of how to take advantage of the upcoming visit — both for bilateral relations and for regional and global security issues — that the meeting was held.
Hu is known to be strongly opposed to the US selling F-16C/D fighter aircraft to Taiwan and is expected to strongly voice his objections when he meets Obama on Jan. 19.
Douglas Paal, a former director of the American Institute in Taiwan and now vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, wrote in a paper published this week: “Viewed cynically, Hu’s visit could be seen as a relatively empty meeting.”
“With the trade outlook not significantly improving, and the United States [and Taiwan, South Korea and Russia] going into a hot election year in 2012, there is every prospect that new and serious bilateral deterioration will set in if differences are not being managed and resolved where possible,” he wrote.
Writing in the New York Times earlier this week, former national security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski said: “Thirty years after their collaborative relationship started, the United States and China should not flinch from a forthright discussion of their differences — but they should undertake it with the knowledge that each needs the other.”
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