Tsai Ing-wen, chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council, who was dispatched to Washington by Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian to clarify Taiwan's cross-strait policy after an inflammatory speech by Chen, met with Armitage in Washington, according to the sources.

Tsai explained in the meeting at an undisclosed location in the capital that Taiwan's policy toward mainland China has not changed, the sources said.

A State Department official did not confirm or deny the meeting between Tsai and Armitage but said U.S. policy is to meet with Taiwan officials ''from time to time'' but not to comment on those meetings.

On Saturday, Chen called in a speech for legislation for a possible referendum on Taiwan's independence, infuriating China, which regards the island as a renegade province.

The speech, given via the Internet to a group of supporters of Taiwan independence in Tokyo, was a departure from his previous stance of avoiding controversy with Beijing.

It triggered a sharp rebuke from China through the China Daily, an official English-language newspaper in Beijing, that Chen was putting Taiwan at risk of war.

''If we want to strive for peace, we have to be fully prepared for military action,'' a senior military source was quoted as saying in the China Daily.

Earlier on Thursday, Tsai said that Japan can ''definitely'' help calm down tensions in the Taiwan Strait and that she would later talk to the Japanese government.

Tsai was speaking to reporters after attending a forum at the Brookings Institution, a think tank in Washington, where she gave a private talk on Taiwan's policy toward China.

She said Taiwan continues to pursue peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

White House National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday the U.S. does not support an independent Taiwan.

''Our policy with respect to China and Taiwan and differences between the two is long-standing, well-known and unchanged,'' McCormack said. ''The U.S. has a one-China policy and we do not support Taiwan independence.''

McCormack also called on parties in the region to avoid steps which might threaten cross-strait peace and stability and urged resumption of dialogue between Beijing and Taipei.

On Monday, China issued a statement that called Chen's speech ''an outward provocation to all Chinese people, including the Taiwan compatriots, and a provocation to the internationally acknowledged 'one-China principle'.''

The U.S. one-China policy respects the view of China that Taiwan is part of China. The policy maintains the status of Taiwan must be settled peacefully between China and Taiwan. Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act in 1979, which allows Taiwan to purchase U.S. weapons for its self-defense.