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Powell assures Taipei there's no deal with China

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has denied reports that Washington and Beijing are working on a deal under which China will aid in America's war on terrorism in exchange for a reduced US commitment to Taiwan.

Powell made his comments after a lengthy meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan (唐家璇), who is visiting Washington in advance of President George W. Bush's visits to Shanghai and Beijing next month. Bush will speak with Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) in Shanghai at the APEC forum and then fly to Beijing for a state visit.

"There was no suggestion of a quid pro quo," Powell said outside the State Department after his two-and-a-half-hour meeting and working lunch with Tang and the Chinese delegation.

His comments were in response to statements by a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing Tuesday that seemed to indicate that China was seeking a reciprocal arrangement with Washington under which China will support Washington's anti-terrorism efforts in exchange for some reduced level of commitment to Taiwan.

In a Beijing press briefing, ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao (朱邦造) said, "The United States has asked China to provide assistance in the fight against terrorism. China, by the same token has reasons to ask the United States to give its support and understanding in the fight against terrorism and separatists. We should not have double standards."

By separatists, Zhu was understood in the West and in Asia to be talking about Taiwan and Tibet, even though he later said "we are not making bargains here."

Tang's visit was planned before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that destroyed the twin towers of New York's World Trade Center and severely damaged the Pentagon.

The visit was originally meant to prepare for Bush's China trip. But the attacks transformed the trip into a discussion of mutual aid against terrorism.

During the visit, which included meetings with President Bush and virtually the entire top-level US foreign policy leadership, Tang pledged support for the US in the coming anti-terrorist war, which many people expect may last years.

However, China did not pledge its participation in US military action, and has urged that the UN be consulted to endorse any such action before it takes place.

After the State Department meeting, Tang spent 20 minutes in the Oval Office meeting with Bush, national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and others, in a meeting that centered mainly on the terrorism issue, a White House spokesman told the Taipei Times.

In his only major public pronouncement during his Washington stay, in a speech at a dinner hosted by the US-China Business Council and the National Committee on US-China relations, Tang devoted a large section to Taiwan, indicating that the Taiwan issue, despite efforts to downplay it by officials during the trip, played an important role in the discussions.

Tang parroted Beijing's "one China" concept, and said China is "vigorously pushing forward the unification process."

But, he said, "as long as the Taiwan authorities agree to resolving the Taiwan question on the basis of `one China,' we can wait patiently."

It is not clear whether those statements were part of any anti-terrorism-for-Taiwan deal, but the comments did appear to represent an unusual emphasis on Taiwan in a speech that could have dealt with a wide range of other issues between Washington and Beijing.

Tang's trip had originally been planned in connection with his attendance at the UN General Assembly session, which was to have taken place next week. But the UN postponed the meeting in view of the disruptions in the wake of the attacks, and the Tang party was to return to Beijing yesterday.
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