A Man Failing to Keep His Words Is Unreliable: Commentary

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 21, 2002

A Man Failing to Keep His Words Is Unreliable: Commentary

The US side's hegemonic acts of gross interference in China's internal affairs have seriously hurt the Chinese people's feeling and thus have naturally met with resolute opposition and stern condemnation from the Chinese government and people.

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In the past month, the US side has carried out a string of moves that trample on the spirit of the United Nations Charter and the principles of the three China-US joint communiques; the United States invited Taiwan's so-called defense minister Tang Yiau-min to visit the country, and US deputy defense secretary and other officials went so far as to meet with him during his US visit, the two sides of the United States and Taiwan held a meeting to discuss the situation in the Taiwan Straits; the US side is prepared to allow the notorious "trouble-maker" Lee Teng-hui to visit the United States; the "nuclear situation evaluation report", recently submitted by the US Defense Department to the Congress, went to the length of advocating the use of nuclear weapon at a time when war breaks out on the Taiwan Straits and imposition of nuclear intervention.

The US side's hegemonic acts of gross interference in China's internal affairs have seriously hurt the Chinese people's feeling and thus have naturally met with resolute opposition and stern condemnation from the Chinese government and people.

The Taiwan question is the most important and most sensitive core issue between China and the United States. How to handle the Taiwan question concerns the general situation affecting China-US relationship.

Backgrounder:Three Sino-U.S. Joint Communiques

Joint Communique between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America (February 28, 1972 )

Joint Communique on the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America (January 1, 1979)

Joint Communique between the People's Republic of China and the United States of America (August 17, 1982)

The three China-US joint communiques constitute the cornerstone of China-US relationship. In these three communiques, the US side has made clear-cut promises to the effect that "Taiwan is part of China" and "there is only one China", and that it "refrains from developing official relations with Taiwan" and other questions. During US president George W. Bush's recent visit to China, the US side again clearly reaffirmed that the United States would abide by the one-China principle. Meanwhile, it also reached a consensus on continuing to develop constructive cooperative relations between the two countries.

However, it is regrettable that the United States is saying one thing while doing quite another thing. Since cross-Strait relationship purely belongs to the internal affair of a country, why, then, is the United States prepared to impose nuclear interference on the Taiwan issue which belongs purely to China's internal affairs?

The United States has repeatedly indicated that "it has no intention to threaten China", both sides have reached an agreement on "refraining from aiming at each other" on the question of nuclear weapon, while on the sly the United States listed China as a target of attack in future nuclear war. People cannot but ask: when the United States is blowing hot and cold and always chopping and changing, what is it really up to?

Taiwan has been an inalienable part of the Chinese territory since ancient times. Realization of the great cause of reunification of the motherland is the strong will and common aspiration of the Chinese nation, no force on earth can stop the reunification of the Chinese nation. Whether in the past, at present or in the future, the "Taiwan independence" forces which advocate splitting China and external forces supporting "Taiwan independence" are doomed to fail.

It must be pointed out that in the United States there is invariably a force that holds fast to the Cold War mentality, they carry out perverse action, confound black and white and fabricate enemies, by which to push through unilateralism and hegemonism in international affairs.

In recent years, the US side has continuously enlarged the scale and improved the quality of its arms sale to Taiwan and listed China as an imaginary enemy for US nuclear attacks. We should like to ask: Where does this dangerous US policy of playing with fire want to lead China-US relations to?

At present, China-US relations have expanded to political, economic and trade, anti-terrorism and other fields for mutually beneficial cooperation. China-US relations have weathered various storms and traversed an arduous course full of twists and turns over the past 30 years, the achievements have been gained by no means easy.

From the perspective of a strategic height, and in consideration of peace and long-term interests of the two countries and humankind, China and the United States should, in the spirit of cooperation and consultation, jointly preserve China-US relationship, so that it will develop in a healthy and steady manner. China has not done anything harmful to the United States.

The US side should be true to its words and abide by its promises. As an old Chinese saying goes, "A faithless person cannot get on in society". This is true of a country, "if one is not serious in keeping faith, it is no good to form an alliance with him".

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