DATE=5/19/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
TITLE=TAIWAN-US
NUMBER=5-46348
BYLINE=ROGER WILKISON
DATELINE=TAIPEI
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The cross-strait standoff between China and
Taiwan has long had a third player -- the United
States. U-S officials are bound by law to help Taiwan
defend itself, even as they adhere to the "one China"
policy, whereby the island is considered part of
China. VOA correspondent Roger Wilkison reports that,
although Washington has rejected any active role in
solving the Taiwan impasse, there are signs that it is
keeping close contacts with both Beijing and Taipei to
make sure the dispute does not get out of hand.
TEXT: U-S, Chinese and Taiwanese diplomats and
analysts say Washington is watching developments in
the cross-straits situation very closely. Tension has
risen across the Strait since the election last March
of Chen Shui-bian, as Taiwan's president. Mr. Chen --
who, in the past, advocated formal independence for
Taiwan but has since backtracked from that stand --
makes Beijing nervous. And China has insisted that,
if he wants to improve relations, he must acknowledge
that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.
Mr. Chen, who will be inaugurated on Saturday, refuses
to do so. So cross-strait ties are at a deadlock.
Taiwan has asked the United States to help it and
China build bridges. China, which regards the Taiwan
question as an internal matter, denies reports that
it, too, has asked for Washington's help.
But Chinese diplomats say their U-S counterparts have
passed messages from one side to the other. The
United States, which is wary of getting too entangled
in the murky world of cross-strait diplomacy, denies
that it wants to become a mediator and insists it is
up to China and Taiwan themselves to rebuild a
dialogue. But U-S diplomats say Washington is deeply
concerned about the impasse.
U-S diplomats and Taiwanese scholars say Ray
Burghardt, who heads the American Institute in Taiwan,
or AIT -- Washington's unofficial representative
office on the island -- has met with Mr. Chen and his
advisors several times, to find out just what the new
Taiwanese administration plans to do to mend cross-
strait ties.
But as analyst Andrew Yang -- who heads the China
Council of Advanced Policy Studies, in Taipei,
observes -- Washington has studiously avoided any
kind of direct involvement.
/////YANG ACTUALITY/////
The way they have conducted their contacts with either
side is carefully designed, very cautious, very low
profile, and, most important, informal. The United
States doesn't want to make public that the U-S is
doing something about the cross-strait situation. But
in a way, they have done something in a peripheral
manner, sending private citizens, think-tank people,
ex-officials, or even asking a lot of third-party
people to monitor the situation. And I think they
have conducted a very robust second track interaction
with both sides.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
There have been reports that Mr. Burghardt has even
exerted an influence in the writing of the inaugural
speech that Mr. Chen will deliver on Saturday. But
one of the new president's closest advisors, Bi-Khim
Hsiao, strongly denies that.
/////HSIAO ACTUALITY/////
How Mr. Chen will discuss his China policy is
naturally the focus of world attention, including the
attention of the United States government. Naturally,
there is much concern and interest in what will be in
the speech. But Mr. Chen has not shown the text, the
draft, to any other country or any other individual.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
Analyst Andrew Yang says there is no hard evidence
that the United States has been involved in writing
the speech. But he believes Mr. Chen has sought
American input into its content.
/////YANG ACTUALITY/////
Chen Shui-bian himself will obviously ask the director
of AIT in Taipei, say, "so, if I say this or use these
kinds of words, would that be considered damaging the
(peace) process or benefiting the process", and so
forth. They want a second opinion from the United
States.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
And Parris Chang, a legislator from Mr. Chen's
Democratic Progressive Party who fears the new
president is trying too hard to placate China, says he
has no doubt the Americans have, at least, TRIED to
influence the speech.
/////CHANG ACTUALITY/////
The Department of State and the AIT here in Taipei
have been trying to influence the content of the
speech, saying to the president-elect "don't make
trouble, try to be low-key, try to be conciliatory."
And I think Mr. Chen has taken that advice into
consideration. I think Mr. Chen wants to be open,
wants to be friendly towards China, and he said that
he would give China no pretext for attacking Taiwan --
use force against Taiwan -- and he would also make
Washington happy in his remarks.
/////END ACTUALITY/////
Mr. Chang says Mr. Chen, who was elected mainly on a
platform of internal reform, needs a less tense
atmosphere across the Strait so that he can devote
himself to lining up legislative support for his
domestic reform program. (SIGNED)
NEB/RW/FC/PLM
19-May-2000 06:48 AM EDT (19-May-2000 1048 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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