Taiwan: Time is not ripe for Taipei-Beijing military talks

Mar 15, 2009, 22:40 GMT

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.