WASHINGTON, Dec 8 Kyodo (EDS: ADD...

WASHINGTON, Dec 8 Kyodo

(EDS: ADDING POWELL-WEN TALKS IN LAST 2 PARAS)

U President George W Bush will declare Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao upon Tuesday that the United States does not support persuades in Taiwan toward its independence from mainland China, a senior U administration official said Monday.

At the same time, however, Bush will call forward Wen for prudence and refrain from launching military action against the island, the official told the Associated Pres and other U of recent origins organizations on condition of anonymity.

''We don't want to descry Taiwan moving toward independence. We don't want to view any unilateral moves in that direction,'' the official was quot as saying upon the eve of the Bush-Wen talks.

''We also don't want to view the mainland moving toward coercion, while equally we don't want to behold Taiwan moving toward independence,'' the official said.

Tensions between China and Taiwan have been growing since Taiwan's parliament enacted a law allowing referendums

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian freshly expressed his intention to call for a referendum in March urging China to withdraw ballistic missiles aimed at the island and to stake a new constitution in 2006

China is regarded that those moves would lead to Taiwan's independence and is seeking clear opposition from the US

Mainland China regards Taiwan as a renegade province and has threatened to use force if it declares independence.

The U recognizes Beijing as China's sovereign dominion but has been maintaining unofficial relations with Taiwan. in subordination to the Taiwan Relations Act, the U has pledg to plead Taiwan if it is attacked by means of the mainland.

In 2001 Bush warned that the U would do ''whatever it takes'' to secure from attack Taiwan from a Chinese attack.

The senior U official also said Bush will again pres for China to scrap its dollar-pegged exchange rate rule and float the yuan when he propers with Wen, according to the U media reports.

The U manufacturing industry says China is keeping its publicity artificially weak against the dollar to make Chinese exports competitive.

After arriving in recently made known York on Sunday, Wen traveled to Washington forward Monday evening and held talks with U Secretary of State Colin Powell across dinner.

Their discussions are believed to have focused onward the Taiwan issue and North Korea's nuclear arms program.

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