Washington, Nov 05: The Bush administration has assured Beijing that Secretary of State Colin Powell's handshake with Taiwan's President did not change U.S. policy on China.
Powell shook hands and exchanged pleasantries Monday with Taiwanese President Chen Shui-Bian in Panama City during a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Panamian independence.
Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing then requested that Powell telephone him, which Powell did, a State Department spokesman said yesterday.
They talked mostly about North Korea, spokesman Adam Ereli said. The United States and China are working together to try to negotiate restraints on North Korea's nuclear programme.
Taiwan was mentioned only briefly in the conversation, Ereli said. ``Our policy on China has not changed. We remain committed to a one-China policy and this encounter in no way calls that into question,'' he said.



Ereli said ``there was no meeting or discussions'' between Powell and the Taiwanese President.



China considers Taiwan a rebellious province that must be absorbed by mainland China. As a result, Chinese officials are extremely sensitive to any indication that American officials are being friendly to or are in any way having nation-to-nation relations with Taiwan, a democracy that is the United States' eighth-largest trading partner.


Bureau Report