US Secretary of State Colin Powell sought Wednesday to reassure nervous human-rights activists and governments such as those of India and Taiwan that the US will not make any deals against their interests to win support for its global campaign against terrorism.
The US was "calibrating" its cooperation with Pakistan and India in order not to inflame tensions between the two nuclear powers, Powell said.
And Washington would not strike any deals to obtain China's participation in the anti-terror coalition at Taiwan's expense, he said.
India has expressed concern that Washington's sudden reliance on Pakistan in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks would be to its disadvantage.
Taiwanese officials worry that Beijing will demand concessions from President George W. Bush on US support for Taiwan as a condition for China's help in locating and punishing suspected terrorist leader Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network in Afghanistan.
"There are some things that are immutable," Powell said, rejecting the charge that Bush was striking short-term deals that could undermine traditional "principled" US foreign policy goals over the long term.
"We will always speak out strongly against human-rights abuses," he told a small group of reporters from foreign news agencies. "We will speak out about religious freedom, and we will speak out about terrorist activity."
Nations that have been criticized by Washington for their rights records in the past can expect more criticism if their policies don't change, "notwithstanding the fact that we might have some areas of cooperation as a result of the 11th of September," Powell said.
"We are not changing any of the principled policies that we have been following," Powell said.
"And I think that those nations that depend on us somewhat for their sense of security should have no fear that somehow their sense of security has been weakened or will be weakened -- like Taiwan," he added.
Su Tzeng-ping (蘇正平), director-general of the Government Information Office, welcomed Powell's remarks yesterday and described them as "a very friendly statement" toward Taiwan.
Su said Powell's remarks have given Taiwan a sense of relief at a time when Washington and Beijing are becoming closer.
Su noted that Powell's public words were so clear that Taiwan could feel the great friendship from Washington, saying at the same time that he believes that such open statements carry their own important meanings and messages.
Meanwhile, the spokesman disclosed that the Bush administration has assured Taiwan -- via proper channels over the past several days -- that the US will not compromise Taiwan's interests during the process of engaging in cooperation with China against global terrorism.
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