The Bush administration, seeking to remove an irritant threatening to undermine the president’s meeting Tuesday with China’s premier, has strongly criticized a referendum planned in Taiwan that could be interpreted as a move toward independence.
Senior administration officials said the United States would oppose “any unilateral steps” to change Taiwan’s status, including either the use of force by Beijing or “any moves by Taiwan itself, including referenda or constitutional reform that would change the status quo on independence or unification.”
The criticism of Taiwan came on the eve of a meeting between Bush and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao that the White House hopes will forge “a personal relationship” and boost cooperation between the two nations on trade and halting North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
While denying any explicit shift from longstanding American policy toward Beijing and Taipei, Bush administration officials indicated they were unhappy about recent moves by Taiwan to challenge China and felt the need to clarify where the United States stood.
The officials’ remarks were significant in that they went beyond past vague statements to specify political actions that should be avoided by Taiwan–a democracy, but one heavily dependent on American weaponry.
Tensions have mounted between China and Taiwan in recent weeks over plans by the island, which China calls a breakaway province, to hold a referendum in March timed to coincide with its presidential elections, that China sees as an effort to fuel the independence movement.
Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian declared Sunday that the vote, which he called a “defensive referendum,” would demand that China dismantle missiles aimed at Taiwan and renounce the use of force.
China has repeatedly warned that it would use force to prevent Taiwan from becoming independent. After arriving in New York on Sunday, Wen said, “Separatist forces within the Taiwan authorities attempt to use democracy only as a cover to split Taiwan away from China.
“This is what we will never tolerate,” he said in remarks carried by the official Xinhua news agency.
