China yesterday confused its position on whether US weapons sales to Taiwan were a factor in Beijing's decision to support Washington's war on terrorism.
The Chinese government's top spokesman on Taiwan issues told a press conference that it remained to be seen how the US response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks would influence US weapons sales to Taiwan.
"I think that should still be examined," Zhang Mingqing (
Zhang's remark came despite a vociferous Chinese government assertion last week that there was no link between its support for global anti-terrorist efforts and the issue of US weapons sales to Taiwan.
"The issue of the fight against terrorism is another question [than the Taiwan issue]. It doesn't mean that we are making any bargain here," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao (
Two days later, Zhu made the point even more strongly, insisting China had not set any conditions for its cooperation in the war on terrorism following speculation Beijing wanted in return a freer hand on "separatists" -- shorthand for places like Tibet and Taiwan.
"This is a serious misinterpretation of China's principled position," Zhu said.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said there was no question of a "quid pro quo."
Yesterday Zhang also said China would be opposed to anyone using "the terrorist attacks to obstruct the development of ties between the mainland and Taiwan."
"The resolution of the Taiwan issue is China's own internal affair," Zhang said. "The United States, of course, is an important factor in resolving the Taiwan issue."
On Tuesday the US and China opened expert-level talks in Washington on combating terrorism that were called in the wake of the terror attacks which killed nearly 7,000 people.
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