U.S. and Taiwan (2006)

State Department Briefing, February 21

State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli briefed the press February 21.

Following is the transcript of the State Department briefing:

(begin transcript)

Daily Press Briefing
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
1:19 p.m. EST

Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: A change of subject. On the six-party talks, since South Korean officials are saying that they believe that talks will resume in March or April. Do you have anything on that -- any indication from any of the parties when they may resume?

MR. ERELI: I don't have anything that specific to update you on with regard to the six-party talks. Obviously, contacts among the parties continue. The Chinese Vice Foreign Minister is here today, as a matter of fact. He'll be meeting with Deputy Secretary Zoellick, Assistant Secretary Hill. They'll be talking about a number of issues. First and foremost, I think the upcoming visit of President Hu in April, but I expect that the six-party talks would also -- the issue of six-party talks would also come up in their discussions. We obviously remain eager to see a resumption of talks. We continue to consult with our partners in the process about how to achieve that objective. At this point, however, I'm not aware of any dates that have been decided upon.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: Do you have the support of China on this, because at one stage China was not entirely behind all your plans for Darfur?

MR. ERELI: At this point, I don't think that's an issue.

Sir.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

QUESTION: NSC official Dennis Wilder went to Taiwan last week to persuade Taiwan's President Chen not to abolish the National Unification Council. And we learned that President Chen already rejected the U.S. proposal. Also know that the State Department communicated with Taiwan on this issue on a day-to-day basis. So can you tell then what kind of message you're getting from Taiwan, so far? Has the decision been made?

MR. ERELI: I'm not going to speak for the officials in Taiwan. I'm not aware of the specific visit that you mentioned. I'd refer you to the White House for the NSC to comment on travels by its officials. As far as our discussions with Taiwan go, I think it won't surprise you to learn that in all other discussions, we reiterate the view that Taiwan needs to refrain from taking actions which can be seen as unilateral efforts to change the status quo, that they need to move to address the issues they have with respect to China through dialogue. And that's our consistent message in our dealings with the Taiwanese.

QUESTION: President Chen decides to go ahead to scrap the Council, will the U.S. take any punitive measures to actually convey --

MR. ERELI: Not my comfortable -- I'm not comfortable speculating on that hypothetical. I think we will be guided by our policy which is based on the Taiwan Relations Act and the declarations that you're familiar with.

QUESTION: What about the reunification office? Should it remain in existence or not?

MR. ERELI: Let me get you a considered opinion on that.

Yeah.

[ ...Intervening Text... ]

(The briefing was concluded at 2:06 p.m.)

(end transcript)