Taipei, Jan. 20 (CNA) The United States' encouragement for a continued reduction of cross-Taiwan Strait tensions was made with good intentions and should not be interpreted as "pressure" to Taiwan to engage in political talks with China, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) official said Thursday.
The U.S. stated in the U.S-China joint statement released Thursday during Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit that it looked forward to further cross-Strait interaction "in economic, political, and other fields."
Taiwan's President Ma Ying-jeou has said that he did not plan to engage in any political talks with China in his first four-year term and he preferred to focus on economic issues in bilateral exchanges.
In response to a reporter's question at a press briefing, MOFA spokesman James Chang played down the implication of the joint statement and said that Taiwan has always paced itself in its exchanges and negotiation with China, and he was not in a position to speculate on the U.S. position.
"However, encouragement is not pressure. And I don't think we should interpret the U.S. intention as a pressure, " he said.
Differences between what U.S. President Barack Obama said in his joint press conference with Hu early Thursday morning regarding the Taiwan issue and the text of a U.S.-China joint statement released after the conference also raised question.
In the joint statement, the U.S. reaffirmed that it "follows its one China policy and abides by the principles of the three U.S.-China Joint Communiques" on the Taiwan issue. Obama said in the press conference that he "reaffirmed our commitment to a one-China policy based on the three U.S.-China communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act."
Chang did not comment on why the U.S. did not place the Taiwan Relations Act, which has been seen by Taiwan as a strong U.S. commitment of partnership, in the content of the joint statement.
On record, the U.S. followed the same pattern as Obama's state visit to China in 2009 by mentioning the word "Taiwan Relations Act" in the press conference but omitting it in the official joint statement.
Compared with what Obama said in his 2009 visit, Chang said Taiwan was happy with a Taiwan-related statement from the U.S. this time because Obama not only mentioned the Taiwan Relations Act and reaffirmed the U.S. security commitment but also praised the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) for the first time and encouraged continued bilateral dialogues.
Taiwan expressed disappointment over the China-U.S. joint statement in 2009, in which the two countries underscored "the importance of the Taiwan issue in U.S.-China relations" and "respect for each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity." (By Chris Wang) Enditem/cs