Taipei - Taiwan's Defence Minister Chen Chao-min said that
the time is not ripe for Taiwan-China military talks because Beijing
has not shown enough goodwill towards Taipei, a newspaper reported
Monday.
'The preconditions for launching military exchanges include: China
must renounce the use of force against Taiwan, must remove the
missiles targeting Taiwan, and must drop the demand that military
talks must be conducted under the one-China principle,' The China
Times daily quoted Chen as saying.
Taiwan is set to issue later on Monday its military white paper
for the next four years.
The white paper, called Four-Year National Defence Review, will
detail the island's military policies, arms purchase list and plans
for launching military exchanges with China.
Chen said he thinks that so far China has only paid lip service to
the idea, and the People's Liberation Army has not responded to
Taiwan's demands or shown goodwill towards Taiwan, the paper said.
'We are not dragging out feet, but China is only paying lip
service,' he said.
Chen said Taiwan must be very cautious in launching military
exchanges because once begun, there is no way back.
'Military exchanges concern national security, so we must
guarantee our national security first. When national security is
ensured, we can launch military exchange with China step by step,' he
said.
Both former president Chen Shui-bian and current president Ma
Ying-jeou have suggested that Taiwan and China launch a military
mutual trust mechanism with the precondition that Beijing renounce
the use of force against Taiwan and remove the missiles facing the
island.
China is actively promoting cross-strait economic cooperation,
but has refused to renounce the use of force against Taiwan.
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