My comment:
(a) The situation, the trend is pretty glum from Beijing's standpoint. I mean, for the past several months US has not mentioned three communiques on the same breath on this issue.
(b) Mr. Philip J. Crowley did not say that at the daily briefing. Instead he
said that at a special briefing (at Foreign Press Center,* DC, on Oct. 21, 2010).
Pakistan Strategic Dialogue and Other Global Events and Issues
http://fpc.state.gov/149721.htm
* That is what "FPC Briefing" refers to at the top of the transcript.
(i) Note:
* Nadia TSAO 曹郁芬
* Min LEE 鳳凰衛視 (formerly 美聯社); I do not know if he or she has a
Chinese name (I find none).
(ii) Quote dealing with Taiwan/China:
* Crowley at the end of opening remark: "And finally before taking your
questions, over the last couple of days we’ve had high-level meetings with
Chinese Minister Wang Yi, who is in charge of the Taiwan Affairs Office for
the Chinese Government. Yesterday, he met with Deputy Secretary Steinberg.
Today, he met with Secretary Kurt Campbell. I believe Secretary Clinton
briefly dropped by the meeting as well. And this, again, underscores ongoing
consultations that we have on a variety of regional security issues.
* "QUESTION: Hi, Mr. Secretary, my name is Nadia Tsao, Washington
correspondent for the Liberty Times Taiwan. I just wonder, can you give us
– is there any talking point about Minister Wang Yi’s meeting with a high-
level official in the State Department? What’s the major message from Mr.
Wang? Thanks.
"MR. CROWLEY: I don’t know that we have a major message. We have certainly
encouraged dialogue between China and Taiwan. It is in our interest and we
believe it’s in China’s interest to develop a sustainable relationship
between the two.
"MODERATOR: Okay, we’ll go right there.
"QUESTION: Thank you. Min Lee with Phoenix TV Hong Kong, just a follow-up on
the same subject. So did they talk about the U.S. arms sales to Taiwan this
time?
"MR. CROWLEY: Well, first of all, we follow our law and our activities in
that area is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act. We fully understand that
our support to provide for – help provide for Taiwan’s legitimate
defensive needs is an issue for China. I wouldn’t be surprised if we – if
that was part of the discussion.