In U.S.-China Talks, a Sharp and Enduring Focus on Taiwan
NYTimes - July 9, 2004
By JOSEPH KAHN
BEIJING, July 8 - Senior Chinese leaders conveyed a heightened sense of alarm on Thursday about their nation's relations with Taiwan, and they strongly warned the United States national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, that continued American sales of high-tech weapons to Taiwan would increase the chances of conflict, a Bush administration official said.
Jiang Zemin, China's military chief, appeared agitated about Taiwan in a meeting here with Ms. Rice on Thursday, the official said. Mr. Jiang gave the visiting American delegation the impression that China was still struggling to agree on a strategy for dealing with Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian.
"There's a sense that they do not know what to do," the official said.
China has argued that President Chen, who recently began his second four-year term, intends to achieve formal independence from mainland China, a move Beijing says it would counter with force.
Ms. Rice emphasized that the United States did not support Taiwanese independence. She argued that the Bush administration had worked to temper Mr. Chen's independence-oriented rhetoric, especially during his inaugural address in May.
But Mr. Jiang indicated that Chinese leaders saw things differently. "They clearly did not find the inaugural encouraging," the official said.
The exchange of views about Taiwan was part of a broader discussion about the most sensitive issues in Chinese-American relations, including the North Korea nuclear crisis. Ms. Rice, who met Mr. Jiang and Li Zhaoxing, the Chinese foreign minister, is to hold talks on Friday with Hu Jintao, China's president and Communist Party chief.
American officials said Ms. Rice, who also visited Tokyo and plans to stop in Seoul, South Korea, had used this trip to Beijing to encourage more high-level dialogue. The administration official said that without such regular exchanges, the relationship between the two countries could sour over a "laundry list" of sensitive disputes.
China considers Taiwan part of its sovereign territory and has long said that it will attack if the island, which is governed separately, were to declare formal independence.
Most American officials and independent analysts consider an attack unlikely, in part because it could draw China into a direct conflict with the United States, Taiwan's main ally. But many also say the chances of an armed confrontation rose with Mr. Chen's re-election in the spring.
The Bush administration official suggested that the American delegation was surprised by China's latest vehemence on the Taiwan problem. Some administration officials had said they hoped that tension between China and Taiwan had cooled since May, when Mr. Chen, in a speech the United States had approved, vowed not to pursue independence.
Mr. Jiang also heavily criticized the Bush administration's decision to increase the quality and quantity of arms sales to Taiwan, arguing that such sales violated an agreement with China to gradually phase out weapons sales. In 2001, Mr. Bush authorized the Pentagon to sell enhanced weapons system to Taiwan, including diesel submarines, P-3C antisubmarine planes and Patriot antimissile systems. Most still remain to be purchased and delivered.
Ms. Rice responded by explaining "what we can do and what we can't do" to address China's concerns, the official said.
She told the Chinese leaders that the Bush administration would continue to press Taiwan to adhere to its commitment to avoid actions that disrupt the status quo in relations with China. But she firmly ruled out reducing arms sales, which she described as an obligation under the Taiwan Relations Act.
Ms. Rice also urged Mr. Jiang to open a dialogue with Mr. Chen. She suggested that China's insistence that Mr. Chen accept the so-called One China principle as a condition of beginning talks was not helpful.
"The message was that China ought to be thinking about how to work this formula" so that face-to-face talks are possible, the official said.
On North Korea, the other major topic, Ms. Rice urged the Chinese to keep the pressure on North Korea, a longtime Beijing ally, to produce a realistic plan for ending its nuclear program.
In the latest round of six-way talks, held in China last month, the Bush administration put forward its first concrete proposal for resolving the nuclear standoff with the insular Communist regime in North Korea.
The administration official said the Chinese side "took credit" for persuading North Korea not to reject the American plan at the time. The official said the Chinese promised to keep the pressure on the North before new talks in September.
