US Ambassador to Australia Tom Schieffer said Sunday the United States and Australia are working towards the same goal on the Taiwan issue.  

On speculation whether Australia would join a US military response to an escalation of tensions in the Taiwan Straits, Schieffer said "That's for Australia to decide but I think that the reason we're together so often is because we do share those values, we do have an alliance and that alliance brings us together more often than brings us apart."

"We don't have a situation in the Taiwan Straits right now that would demand a military response," he told Australia's Channel 10 television.

"Let's wait and see what that would be if and when it would occur," he said.

The United States is committed to a one-China policy and a peaceful resolution of whatever differences existing between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits, he said.

"We are working toward that goal. That's basically the same goal that the Australians are working toward," he said.

(Xinhua News Agency November 22, 2004)