ROC WELCOMES U.S. REAFFIRMATION ON PEACEFUL CROSS-STRAIT APPROACH
Taipei, Nov. 21 (CNA) The Republic of China government welcomed
the Bush administration's reaffirmation of its firm opposition to
Beijing's threat to use force to resolve differences between the two
sides of the Taiwan Strait, Cabinet spokesman Lin Chia-lung said
Friday.
Lin made the remarks after U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State Randall G. Shriver said at a news briefing for Taiwan reporters
posted in Washington, D.C. a day earlier that the U.S. government is
firmly opposed to the use of force in trying to settle cross-Taiwan
Strait differences.
Shriver's news briefing came after Beijing in recent days warned
that the use of force might be "unavoidable" if Taiwan's leaders
pursue independence in the guise of referendum legislation and
creating a new constitution.
"There's been a great deal of attention to statements coming out
of Beijing over the last 48 hours. I want to make clear our position
on the use of force. Of course this is addressed in our law. The
Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) essentially says that any threat to use
force against Taiwan is of grave concern to the United States and
that we would only support a peaceful approach to the differences, "
Shriver said.
Lin said Taiwan appreciates the U.S. government's reaffirmation
of its stance on "peaceful approaches" toward cross-Taiwan Strait
issues.
He also urged Beijing not to misjudge the situation in taking
military action against Taiwan.
"Beijing should not underestimate our determination to safeguard
our democratic way of life and the U.S. commitment to helping
maintain peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait," Lin said.
Noting that Taiwan and the United States have shared interests in
preventing any unilateral change to the present status quo on both
sides of the Taiwan Strait, Lin said the ROC government will continue
to cooperate with the United States in maintaining peace and
stability in the Taiwan Strait.
Lin further said Beijing should refrain from purposely distorting
Taiwan's efforts to pursue referendum legislation and a new
constitution with a view to deepening its young democracy and
upgrading its national competitiveness.
"Nobody can deny the fact that the ROC on Taiwan is an
independent sovereign state. And our efforts to consolidate our young
democracy, including legislating a referendum law and writing a new
constitution, are a domestic matter than cannot be subject to
interference by any other country," he stressed.
Lin also said the basic spirit of President Chen Shui-bian's
"four noes plus one" pledge outlined in his inaugural speech is
consistent with Washington's "peace approach" toward cross-strait
disputes. "Both Taiwan and the United States cannot tolerate any
attempt by Beijing to use force to swallow democratic Taiwan, " he
added.
Meanwhile, Tsai Ming-hsien, deputy ROC representative to the
United States, who returned to Taipei earlier this week to attend a
seminar, said substantiative Taiwan-U.S. relations have continued
growing and improving steadily.
While the United States must maintain cooperative ties with
mainland China in terms of its national interests, Tsai said, it is
not likely to sacrifice Taiwan's interests in its engagement with
mainland China.
(By Sofia Wu)
enditem/mw
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
