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VP RALLIES BEHIND PRESIDENT'S STATEMENT ON CROSS STRAIT TIES

Aug 08, 2002 23:14 UTC+0800

Taipei, Aug. 8 (CNA) Vice President Annette Lu said Thursday that she supports President Chen Shui-bian's latest statement about the country's status in relation to mainland China "up to the hilt," describing it as "a stroke of genius."

Lu told a group of media executives that the message the president wanted to get across in his speech to a pro-Taiwan independence group on Saturday is:

-- Taiwan should move on its own path of freedom, democracy, and peace;

-- Taiwan refuses to be belittled, marginalized, or debased into a province of the People's Republic of China; and

-- The acceptance of Beijing's "one country, two systems" or "one China" policy means a change of the status quo and cannot be carried out without seeking the consent of the 23 million people of Taiwan through plebiscite.

Lu said that as the president's long-time political ally, she thinks Chen has spoken out on what they have always thought.

Chen's statement has triggered a political storm both at home and overseas. It drew flak from Beijing's leaders and his political foes in Taiwan, who accuse the president of reneging on the promises he made in his inaugural speech in 2000 that he would not declare Taiwan independence during his presidency.

(By Maubo Chang)