Transcript: Albright July 25 ASEAN Regional Forum Press Conference
(Reiterates "strong commitment to a one China policy")Security concerns from disputed claims to the Spratly Islands to North Korea's missile test plans overshadowed the Asian financial crisis at the ASEAN Regional Forum and in the news conference of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright held in Singapore July 25.
"The need for stability on the Korean Peninsula will be the subject of bilateral and trilateral meetings and will be discussed as well at the ASEAN Regional Forum," Albright told reporters.
"Our hope is that nations will join in urging North Korean to respond positively to the opportunity it now has to reduce its isolation. The opportunity is presented by President Kim Dae Jung's engagement policy and the Perry review process," she said.
Albright also expressed concern about rising tensions over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea. The United States, she said, "will be urging nations in the region to exercise restraint and to explore ways to build confidence and move towards a peaceful resolution of this situation."
Regarding the recent heightened tensions between China and Taiwan, Albright reiterated the Clinton Administration's "strong commitment to a one China policy, to the importance of direct dialogue, and a peaceful resolution of the dispute."
Following is a State Department transcript of the press conference:
(begin transcript)
Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright
Press Conference, Four Seasons Hotel
Singapore, July 25, 1999As released by the Office of the Spokesman
U.S. Department of StateSECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Good afternoon, I'm very pleased to be here in Singapore for the 6th meeting of the ASEAN Regional Forum and the annual ASEAN Post Ministerial Conference. I want to begin by thanking our Singapore hosts for their hospitality and for their leadership in ensuring that our meetings during the next couple of days are concrete and productive.
The United States has been paying a lot of attention to the Balkans and Europe lately, but we have not lost sight of the rest of the world. The full plate of issues we will address during these meetings reflect the equally enormous stake we have in a stable, democratic and prosperous Asia. For example, we are encouraged by signs that the worst of the Asian finance crisis is behind us. It is vital, however, that neither those in or outside the region declare victory too soon. The reforms that are helping to restore investor confidence must be continued. Major economies, not limited to the United States, must pursue pro-growth policies. We must move ahead on our agenda to open markets and increase two-way trade. Education, training, and health investments must continue. And the battle against cronyism and corruption must be waged on all fronts.
On the security side, we will be focused this week on two specific and two more general issues. First, the need for stability on the Korean Peninsula will be the subject of bilateral and trilateral meetings and will be discussed as well at the ASEAN Regional Forum. Our hope is that nations will join in urging North Korean to respond positively to the opportunity it now has to reduce its isolation. The opportunity is presented by President Kim Dae Jung's engagement policy and the Perry review process. The result will be a major step towards lasting peace for the region and greatly improve social economic prospects for the North.
Second, we are concerned about rising tensions over competing territorial claims in the South China Sea. We will be urging nations in the region to exercise restraint and to explore ways to build confidence and move towards a peaceful resolution of this situation. In many of our meetings, the United States will be stressing the need for concrete steps to control the spread of weapons of mass destruction and the missiles that deliver them. This is and I suspect will remain for some time the most important diplomatic challenge we face.
The second overarching set of security issues we will be discussing consists of transnational threats such as international terror, narcotics trafficking, and crime. The United States will be placing special emphasis on the need to halt trafficking in women and girls. We will also call attention to the consequences for the region of Burma's failure to move in the direction of democracy.
An important advantage of regional meetings such as this is the opportunity to meet with counterparts and other officials on a bilateral basis. This morning, for example, I met with Singapore's Prime Minister Goh and India's Foreign Minister Singh. I also participated in a working lunch with Chinese Foreign Minister Tang. This meeting gave us the opportunity to discuss in-depth bilateral issues and matters of regional security concern including South Asia and the Korean Peninsula. On Taiwan, I reiterated our strong commitment to a one China policy, to the importance of direct dialogue, and a peaceful resolution of the dispute.
Obviously, I cannot speak for the Foreign Minister, but I believe the meeting has helped us to move back in the right direction of engaging on the hard issues whether or not there is an agreement while searching for areas of common ground.
In closing, let me just reiterate the value that the United States attaches to ASEAN and the ASEAN Regional Forum. No region of the world is of greater importance to U.S. interests or to the future of world stability and peace than the Asia Pacific.
Thank you, and now I 'd be very pleased to respond to your questions.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, in your talks with Prime Minister Tang, did you discuss the problem with the Falun Gong and to what extent did you express your long held views about -- concerns about human rights? Is this an issue that you think could become a problem between United States and China? And if you did discuss it, do you have any confirmation of the figures that apparently has been reported it today of 4,000 arrests?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Yes, we did discuss it, and I made quite clear to the Foreign Minister that it was very important for there to be the right of assembly and the possibility for peaceful expressions of views. We talked about human rights again, in general. But on the Falun Gong, I did mention the fact that obviously they are sects in other countries that may create problems, but that the right of assembly and the right for a peaceful expression of views is very important. We did not talk about numbers.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, in any of your meetings here in Singapore, have you sensed a warming towards an increased U.S. military presence in the region?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I think it's probably premature to answer that question because in my discussions with Prime Minister Goh, we spoke about the warm bilateral relations we have. We talked about Indonesia, and its strategic importance. And we spoke about South China Sea and regional issues, but not specifically in terms of a military presence -- though my sense is that in previous discussions that I've had with all the people with whom I'm going to speak, that they are in favor of a continued American military presence in the region.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, do you have any discussion with your Chinese counterpart, Mr. Tang concerning Korean peninsula issues? And I'm wondering, do you have any positive response from the Chinese side in terms of to reduce the technology transfer especially concerning missile technology from China to North Korea?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: We did speak about the situation on the Korean Peninsula and our common concern about the missile proliferation and missile testing and generally about the problems involved with -- that contribute to increased tension. We talked about the fact that we were looking forward to the Four Party talks in Geneva that are coming up at the beginning of next month, and the importance of working together. And we spoke generally about the problems of technology transfer, but did not get more specific than that.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary, the Chinese have pretty much signaled that it will be very difficult for them to get back to WTO until compensation issues on the bombing of the Embassy is settled. In that regard, is the United States still asking the Chinese to - still insisting that they be compensated for the damage done to U.S. Consulates and U.S. Embassy in Beijing and do you talk about this to the Foreign Minister?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: First of all, I think that we obviously did talk about the accidental bombing and humanitarian compensation, and the fact that David Andrews, our legal counsel was in China, is going back during next week to continue the discussion. And we spoke generally about the need to resolve this issue. I have to say that even though we clearly still have a ways to go on that issue itself that we were able, I think, to restore a level of communication that we had before. The Chinese have agreed to a number of visits by some of our Under Secretaries and Assistant Secretaries and by the Director of Policy Planning so that we will be restoring some of the relations. I would characterize this as an easing of tensions. While there are still subjects upon which we disagree and have to work out the arrangements, I was quite satisfied with the restoration of communication over a very friendly lunch.
QUESTION: This week, human rights activists from the region criticized ASEAN as being impotent when it comes to dealing with life and death issues in the region, particularly the resolution of the human rights crisis in Burma. Now, what therapy will your department be prepared to offer, and will that include coordination with members of the ARF over facilitation of transitional process?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Well, first of all, let me say that I think that one of the ways that ASEAN has worked is that they do not particularly like criticizing each other. And it's something that -- when I have been here participating in ASEAN meetings before, I have made quite clear that it is very important to be frank about what's going on in Burma, and to make clear that it's essential for the authorities in Rangoon to talk with the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi herself in a dialogue.
We haven't had an ARF meeting yet, and I haven't met the ASEAN members as a group yet. But if they are listening, they will know that I plan to raise Burma again -- that I feel that it is essential within this particular context to make sure that it is understood that what is going on in Burma does in fact posed a threat to the stability of the region and therefore an appropriate subject for discussion.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, did you discuss the testimony by the CIA director on how the bombing of the Embassy occurred? And did you sense that Chinese were any more accepting of the U.S. position that it was, in fact, a complete accident?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: We did talk about the fact that they wanted to see some accountability, and they want additional reviews. I said that the explanation that Under Secretary Pickering had offered was the explanation, and we couldn't make up explanations that were untrue. I did state the fact that Director Tenet had testified, but I didn't go into more detail than that. I said that we were ourselves reviewing the situation, that we wanted to get it resolved, and, as I mentioned, that Mr. Andrews would be returning to Beijing.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, what do you discuss with Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh? What came out of it?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: We had a very good discussion. Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh is a good friend and we spoke about various parts of South Asia situation. We talked about the importance of the Pakistanis to follow through on their commitment to withdraw the remaining portions of forces around Kargil. And we talked about the importance of resuming the Lahore process, and the general importance of moving forward on both the non-proliferation issues as well as on some positive movement and thinking on the Kashmir issue itself.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, was the issue of Chinese espionage in the United States brought up? And what was the Chinese attitude towards that?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I didn't raise it this time. We had so many subjects that I could barely get through them. In fact, I didn't get through all the subjects. So, we focused our discussions. We spent sometime obviously talking about the bombing accident. We spoke about Taiwan. We spoke about the South China Sea issues. We spoke about non-proliferation generally and about the DPRK and about the human rights situation and we ate. (Laughter.) So, in between bites, I think we actually covered quite a lot of ground.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, could you tell us how confident you are that tensions between China and Taiwan are now easing and that you sense the Chinese are backing away from military threat?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I don't want to characterize it at all the way that you have. I would say that we restated our position about our one China policy, the importance of a direct dialogue and a peaceful resolution of the issue. Foreign Minister Tang indicated that they were listening very carefully to what Mr. Lee was saying, that they also wished to have a peaceful resolution but they also reiterated their standard position which is that they do not renounce the use of force. But I have a sense that they are looking at it carefully.
I explained that Mr. Bush had gone to Taiwan, that I had asked Assistant Secretary Roth to go to Beijing which he had done just previous to this visit, and that we hope very much that tensions could be reduced and that a peaceful resolution of this issue is essential.
QUESTION: Madame Secretary Albright, you will be going on to Europe soon. What do you see as a possible solution for Montenegro which has found itself in a growingly untenable position lately? And also, do you believe that any kind of lasting peace can be found for the Yugoslavia with Slobodan Milosevic still in power?
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: I will be going from here to Kosovo and then to Sarajevo for the stability conference. We have spent a lot of time talking about Montenegro and have been particularly supportive of President Djukanovic as a model for democratization within the FRY, and have been doing what can be done to support him economically to ease some of the difficulties that were caused by the war itself. When I have spoken to other foreign ministers within NATO, their view is similar to what the United States is doing. And Mr. Djukanovic, I think, has made an excellent impression as he has traveled around meeting with a variety of Western European leaders.
I think that, we have made very clear that we want to see a democratic and stable Balkan Peninsula, and the stability pact is exactly about that. But as I previously have talked to leaders of the front line states or others in the region, they have indicated that one of the causes, the major cause of instability, is Mr. Milosevic.
We have made quite clear that there is a place in the European stability framework for a democratically run Serbia -- Yugoslavia. And so if there is to be assistance beyond just humanitarian assistance to Serbia, they will have to show that it is a democratically-produced government and Mr. Milosevic has not shown any tendencies in that direction. So, the whole Stability Pact is set up in such a way as to have a place for a democratic Yugoslavia that, in fact, has learned the lessons that Mr. Djukanovic has practiced so well in Montenegro.
QUESTION: Madam Secretary, are you satisfied with Taiwan's explanation to the special nation-to-nation relationship with China.
SECRETARY ALBRIGHT: Mr. Bush, I think, has made clear, and we have that there needs to be the necessity of a peaceful resolution to this and a dialogue. And I think that the explanations offered thus far don't quite do it.
Thank you.
(end transcript)
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