President Bush Assures Hu Jintao Delivery Of Fuses To Taiwan Was "A Mistake"

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President George Bush telephoned Chinese President Hu Jintao on Wednesday about concerns regarding the situation in Tibet and North Korea's de-nuclearization. But it was the President's apology for the nuclear missile fuses wrongly delivered to Taiwan in 2006 that got everyone's attention.

China issued a strongly-worded protest on Wednesday against the U.S.' delivery of four ballistic fuses to Taiwan, a secessionist island, in August 2006. U.S. Defense officials admitted on Monday that the fuses used for intercontinental ballistic missiles were sent instead of battery packs for Taiwan's UH-1 Huey helicopters.

"It came up very briefly," National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley is quoted by the Boston Globe as saying about the President's conversation with Jintao about the fuses. "Basically, the president indicated that a mistake had been made. There was very little discussion about it."

President Bush also "encouraged the Chinese government to engage in substantive dialogue with the Dalai Lama's representatives and to allow access for journalists and diplomats."

Demonstrations earlier this month in China against the government's policies on Tibet turned violent after police clashed with protesters. International condemnation immediately followed the clashes including a statement from Britain that it may boycott the 2008 Olympics to be held in Beijing later this year. Official Chinese statements put the death toll from the violence that lasted weeks at 19, while the Tibet, a region demanding independence from China, insists 140 died.

President Bush has said he will attend the Olympics.