Bush warns Taiwan on China stance

WASHINGTON -- President Bush told Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao yesterday that the United States would "have to get involved" if either China or Taiwan sought to change the delicate nature of their relationship.

Bush's comments, made to Wen during his first visit to Washington since becoming premier in March, was welcome news to China, which wants to keep a short leash on the prosperous and largely autonomous island. But the president's words were a sharp rebuke to Taiwanese president Chen Shui-bian, whose government is scheduled to hold a referendum this spring asking its citizens if they want China to renounce the use of force and move missiles it has pointed toward Taiwan.

Moving a step away from the "strategic ambiguity" that has defined the US position on China-Taiwan relations -- and left unanswered questions about whether the United States would respond if China forcefully attempted to bring Taiwan more under its control -- Bush issued a direct warning to both sides that he wants no change in their relationship.

"We oppose any unilateral decision by either China or Taiwan to change the status quo," Bush said during a photo opportunity with Wen yesterday. "And the comments and actions made by the leader of Taiwan indicate that he may be willing to make decisions unilaterally to change the status quo, which we oppose."

Chen has vowed to move forward with the referendum, which is seen by the Bush administration as a step toward independence and an unnecessary provocation to China, a vital trading partner. Washington has also relied heavily on Beijing to persuade North Korea to abandon its pursuit of nuclear weapons.

An administration official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said the White House has no interest in going tit-for-tat with Chen, who is campaigning for reelection.

"We're obviously not going to get into a public contest of wills here," the official said.

Administration officials said they were concerned about having Bush standing with Wen, whose government has been criticized for its human rights record, and chastising the leader of a US ally. But such concern was laid aside in favor of sending Chen a message.

Wen sent his own message. "The Chinese government respects the desire of people in Taiwan for democracy, but we must point out that the attempts of Taiwan authorities, headed by Chen Shui-bian, are only using democracy as an excuse and attempt to resort to defensive referendum to split Taiwan away from China," he said. "Such separatist activities are what the Chinese side can absolutely not accept and tolerate."

The United States has pledged to defend Taiwan, located less than 150 miles off the southeastern coast of China, from any attack by Beijing. The Taiwanese enjoy more freedoms than do Chinese who live on the mainland, but China's discomfort with the island's different political system has frequently sparked diplomatic confrontations.

Bush administration officials yesterday said they still back Taiwan but do not want the island's leaders to upset China.

While administration officials stressed that Bush's statements on Taiwan are not a big policy shift, they struggled yesterday to blunt the argument of critics who say the president's opposition to a referendum in an area that longs for more freedom and security stands in stark contrast to comments he made last month, when he said a central theme of his administration's foreign policy would be to advance the spread of democracy throughout the world.

"The president is in a very difficult position," said US Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Malden. "Because of his failed policy in dealing with the North Korean weapons program, the president needs China's support desperately. As a result, the president has his hands tied."

Wen, who is scheduled to speak at Harvard University and meet with political and business leaders in Boston today, met with Bush in the Oval Office for 40 minutes yesterday and later had what aides described as a "small, intimate lunch" with the president in his private residence at the White House. The two leaders also talked about North Korea and trade.

The US trade deficit with China has ballooned to $140 billion, angering American political and business leaders who believe China has unfairly limited access to its markets.

Wen said yesterday that he understands that "in our economic and trade relationship, problems do exist -- mainly, the US trade deficit with China. The Chinese government takes this problem seriously and has taken measures to improve the situation."

On North Korea, China and the Bush administration are pushing for the resumption of six-party talks that also include Russia, Japan, and South Korea to resolve the crisis.

The North Korean government, however, has frustrated efforts to resume talks. Yesterday, it offered to freeze its nuclear program if the United States provides fuel aid and removes North Korea from its list of nations that support terrorism.

Bush was cool to that idea. "The goal of the United States is not for a freeze of the nuclear program," he said. "The goal is to dismantle a nuclear weapons program in a verifiable and irreversible way. And that is a clear message that we are sending to the North Koreans."