Taiwan - Kerry might steer course of Clinton's Taiwan policy, says U.S. expert

2004-08-02 / Central News Agency /
A U.S. expert on international affairs said Saturday that Democratic presidential candidate Senator John Kerry might steer the course of the Clinton administration and press Taiwan to negotiate with China if he wins the election in November this year.

Larry M. Wortzel, vice president and director of the Heritage Foundation's Davis Institute for International Policy Studies, made the remarks in a speech he delivered at the Japan-United States-Taiwan Security Cooperation Seminar held in Tokyo.

Predicting that the U.S. government's Taiwan policy will not undergo big changes if Kerry becomes president, Wortzel claimed, however, that Washington might request that Taiwan go to the negotiation table with China.

He said that in order to ease the worries of Taiwan and U.S. congressmen who care about the island's security, Kerry has reiterated the guarantees given by the Reagan administration to Taiwan.

He has said that the United States is not directly related to Taiwan's sovereignty issue, and that it will not play a mediator role between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, nor will it request that the two sides engage in dialogue, Wortzel said, adding that according to Kerry, the United States will only work on creating a better environment for Taiwan and China to resume dialogue and resolve their problems peacefully.

Noting that there are differences between Kerry and U.S. President George W. Bush in terms of their respective policies toward Taiwan, Wortzel said that some Clinton's advisors are now working for Kerry and might push for the resumption of cross-strait dialogue by putting pressure on Taiwan.