Former US Secretary of Defense William Perry says that economic and cultural exchanges are better for cross-strait relations than military threats. He was speaking Monday during a leadership forum on US-China relations.
Perry was involved in the dispatch of a US carrier battle group to the Taiwan Strait in 1996. The fleet was sent in retaliation for a Chinese missile test in the area before an election in Taiwan. He said the US and China have since held meetings and decided to minimize the potential of military conflict.
Perry said the two nations have also decided to facilitate cultural and economic exchanges across the Taiwan Strait. He said the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have made breakthroughs including opening up direct cross-strait flights.
Perry said that any conflict in the current state would cost billions of US dollars’ worth of loss, which he said was a more effective deterrent to conflict than naval vessels.