China dials down Taiwan rhetoric; US, Canada transit strait

By KEN MORITSUGU
Associated Press

BEIJING (AP) — China has toned down its rhetoric on Taiwan, saying it is inevitable that the self-governing island will come under its control but that it would promote efforts to achieve that peacefully. The comments Wednesday came one day after the U.S. and Canadian navies sailed through the strait between China and Taiwan. They don’t appear to signal a change in policy as much as a broader attempt to calm the waters on multiple fronts in the runup to a major meeting of the ruling Communist Party next month.