(politics) Powell Signals Policy Shift On Taiwan?, page 1

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 09:20 AM

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During his brief visit to China, Secretary of State Colin Powell aseserted that the US does not regard Taiwan as an independent country and that there is only one China. Powell made further remarks in two television interviews to the effect that the reunification of China is a goal shared by the US, China and Taiwan. The comments drew loud protests from the Taiwanese government which has relied on a muted American neutrality since 1972. Taiwan accused the US of initiating a major policy shift without warning. Mainland China officials were pleased with the remarks.

www.washingtonpost.com
Powell, in a pair of television interviews Monday in Beijing, said the United States holds there is only one China and that Taiwan is not an independent nation. He went on to suggest that Taiwanese and Americans as well as Chinese are seeking to bring about the island's reunification with the mainland.
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Alarmed, Taiwan's leaders immediately cried foul, accusing Powell of springing an unfair surprise with a major policy shift in one of the world's most volatile areas and reaffirming their passionate insistence that the island is independent, in fact if not in law.

"Other countries, with or without formal diplomatic relations with us, cannot affect or deny the current situation and the fact that the Republic of China, or Taiwan, is a sovereign, independent country," President Chen Shui-bian told reporters in Taipei on Tuesday.
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Chinese officials, who regard Taiwan as a province that must reintegrate with the mainland at any price -- including war -- could scarcely conceal their satisfaction. Powell's views, expressed after a morning of meetings with senior Chinese leaders during which Taiwan was a principal topic, closely matched their own.

"Some people have said Powell made a slip of the tongue, but I don't believe it," Zhang Mingqing, spokesman for the government's Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a briefing Wednesday.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

These comments come at a time of elevated tensions in the far east arising from the controversy over the North Korean nuclear program. In making this expression of explicit support for the Chinese perspective, it is unclear whether the Bush administration is seeking Chinese support for the US North Korean policy or making a deal to prop the US dollar. China is perhaps the largest investor in US currency and has recently been dumping the dollar in favour of acquiring commodities. For example, China has recently announced its intention to invest heavily in Canadian natural resources.

Related News Links:
www.channelnewsasia.com
news.xinhuanet.com
washingtontimes.com

[edit on 27-10-2004 by Banshee]

[edit on 27-10-2004 by G_Scard]

TexasConspiracyNut

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 02:09 PM

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I'm not Taiwanese, I'm American. I'm glad to see this happen. America has no business telling China what it can or can't do when it comes to Taiwan.

China is not my countries enemy. We should keep our nose out of their internal affairs. We have our hands full with other problems, Iraq, NK... These two countries are threats, China is not.

Dreamz

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 02:17 PM

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Originally posted by TexasConspiracyNut
I'm not Taiwanese, I'm American. I'm glad to see this happen. America has no business telling China what it can or can't do when it comes to Taiwan.

China is not my countries enemy. We should keep our nose out of their internal affairs. We have our hands full with other problems, Iraq, NK... These two countries are threats, China is not.

I respectfully disagree. Taiwan is a democracy and one of the very few in that region. It is our responsibility as a friend of Taiwans to help them protect that democracy. We cant say we are trying to spread democracy and then turn away from a democracy.

I believe Powells vision of re-unification is along the lines that China's economy brings that nation around into a democracy as well, eventually.

SomewhereinBetween

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 02:20 PM

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There is no policy shift by the State Department, that was how it has been presented by them all along. The ruckus is caused by the actions not seeming to match the words.

Channy

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 02:31 PM

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saw this coming since clinton was in power selling technology to china

veritas93

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 04:15 PM

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Originally posted by Channy
saw this coming since clinton was in power selling technology to china

Actually Bush is just as responsible if not more so than Clinton for this kind of behavior. I think it's distasteful and almost treasonous in either case. Anyway, I'm not sure it was as simple as Clinton actually selling the Chinese technology. I think that both Presidents have ALLOWED US companies to sell vital technology to China and others.

Channy

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 05:04 PM

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taiwan will run back to china sooner or later

TheBigD

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 05:22 PM

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The United States and China cooperating to be imperalists. Its moves like this that make us hated more throughout the world.

veritas93

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 05:55 PM

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Originally posted by TheBigD
The United States and China cooperating to be imperalists. Its moves like this that make us hated more throughout the world.

Once again... we are not generally hated throughout the world. People in many nations dislike Bush, but this has been our policy with Taiwan for a long time now. We're not the only ones either. Taiwan has made numerous petitions to be excepted as a soveign nation by the UN and almost no one has supported them. If you believe that the world hates us, then you're buying into bad propaganda. Our imperialistic nature has spanned more than 100 years. Nothing new here.

IntelRetard

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 06:45 PM

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Whatever happened to "for the good of the whole"? China is changing rapidly and as Taiwan is annexed things will smooth over as the capitalists rewards are realized by the powers in place!

bodebliss

posted on Oct, 27 2004 @ 07:18 PM

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Originally posted by TexasConspiracyNut
China is not my countries enemy.

What country did you say you were from?

The U.S. covertly trains junior and senior officers and specialty troops of Taiwan in the U.S. They have given the Taiwanese their latest command and control equipment and frequencies and trained forces together to ensure compatibility.

The U.S. has moved nukes to Guam and B-52s to utilizes them. The U.S. has 8 ballistic missle subs in the Pacific and has recently moved more carrier groups to the Far east. It is enlisting Japan, Australia, and other east asians to repel chinese aggression. The real reason for the attack on Afganistan was so central asia would not fall into China's sphere. Now we have troops in all those countries(kazakastan, etc). We have asked Russia to look to it's long ignored far east and asked India to redirect it's nukes to China.

We backed the E.U. ban on weapons tech to China. Oh, things are moving, good or bad.