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Taiwan at top of Sino-US agenda

A senior Chinese official has urged the US to support Taiwan's "peaceful reunification" with China and has indicated that the issue of Taiwan would be a major focus of the upcoming summit between President George W. Bush and President Jiang Zemin.

Vice Foreign Minister Li Zhao-xing (李肇星) also firmly reiterated that the "one-China" principle would, in Beijing's view, remain the basis for any cross-strait dialogue and indicated that Beijing would never invite President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) to China for talks -- until or unless he accepts that principle beforehand.

Li made his comments in a speech Monday before the US-China Business Council in Washington.

He was in Washington on a three-day visit for talks with US government officials, scholars, the news media and Chinese-Americans to help set the stage for the Bush-Jiang meeting, set for Feb. 21 to 22 in Beijing.

Li met Monday with Bush's national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, and was planning to meet with Secretary of State Colin Powell and his deputy, Richard Armitage, in separate sessions yesterday before leaving Washington, a Chinese embassy spokesman told the Taipei Times.

Li, who was ambassador to Washington before being promoted to his current post last spring, appeared to suggest that Vice Premier Qian Qichen's (錢其琛) statement last week on relations with Taiwan did not represent a major softening of China's position on the "one China" principle and its demand for eventual unification.

During his term as ambassador, Li became known for his hard-line statements on cross-strait relations and other Sino-US issues, such as human rights and the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade in May 1999.

Asked what the most important issue would be at the summit, Li said Taiwan.

"On the part of China, naturally, the Taiwan issue presents the most significant importance," he said.

"It is our hope that the US side will handle the Taiwan question from a strategic and long-term perspective, honor its relevant commitments and support China's efforts at peaceful reunification," he said in his prepared remarks. "This will serve the interests of the two countries as well as those of the international community."

While successive US administrations have urged the "peaceful resolution" of cross-strait issues, they have never accepted the phrase, "peaceful reunification."

"We hope and believe," Li told reporters afterwards, "that the American people, who cherish their national unity so much, will understand our desire, our determination for a reunification of the motherland."

"The problem right now is that the Taiwanese authorities refuse to accept the `one-China' principle, do not recognize the 1992 common understanding ... and keep on erecting artificial barriers to the three direct links and economic exchanges across the Strait," he said.

"Herein lies the crux of the current stalemate in cross-strait relations and the root cause for the elusive stability and even possible crisis in the Strait," he warned.

Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, James Kelly, who sat at the head table during Li's speech, had no comment on his remarks when asked at the end of the luncheon.
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