QUESTION: Assistant Secretary, in the past several times he
has spoken from this podium against the arms race in South
Asia, especially between India and Pakistan. Now, this
week, Britain lifted arms embargo against Pakistan. And,
number two, China is also, according to the report in The
Washington Post, The New York Times and other reports,
helping in nuclear and missile tests again, still helping
Pakistan.

Do you think this building favors sanctions against China?
That's what the Congressman Frank is calling on the
Administration?

MR. BOUCHER: We have a delegation in China right now
talking to the Chinese about issues of arms control,
proliferation and other security issues. These topics are
under discussion. We've expressed our concerns previously
about Chinese cooperation with other countries, including
Pakistan. And those issues are all under discussion at this
point now.

QUESTION: Do you favor any sanctions because of the - they
have broken the rules of the United States?

MR. BOUCHER: We have applied our law in the past and we
fully intend to continue to apply the law where it's
applicable. But without - I am not able to discuss any
particular case in terms of what we know and whether the
legal standards are met. But certainly whenever the legal
standards are met, we intend to apply our law.

QUESTION: On that subject, have you - has the Department
heard back from Mr. Holum, Mr. Einhorn and the rest of the
delegation that met today with the Chinese?

MR. BOUCHER: We have been in touch with them but all I can
really tell you at this point is he has completed his first
day of talks with Chinese officials. The Chinese side was
headed by Vice Foreign Minister Wang Guangya. And that he
is going to be holding a press conference in Beijing
tomorrow afternoon, 3:00 o'clock Beijing time, to provide
information to you all on his discussions.

QUESTION: And further, does the State Department have a
response to the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Mr. Sun, who is
saying that America's National Missile Defense efforts goes
against the trend of the times and that other - the TMD
especially, represents a grave violation of China's
sovereignty and territorial integrity if it is shared with
Taiwan? Does the US have a response to, once again, the
criticisms about missile interception or missile defense?

MR. BOUCHER: I think the key to the answer is in the
question, the "once again." This is a repeat of China's
position on missile defenses including theater missile
defenses with respect to Taiwan. I will repeat what we've
said previously, that we made no decisions on the deployment
of missile defense systems other than for the protection of
US forces. Our interest is in preserving peace and
stability in the region and any future decisions would be
made on that basis. Theater missile defense is still under
development and it is premature to talk about a decision
now. We believe and continue to believe a dialogue across
the Taiwan Straits is the best way to work towards peaceful
resolution of the differences and we urge both sides to be
flexible and creative in making that dialogue possible.