TAIWAN HAS NOT TAKEN ANY PROVOCATIVE ACTION: PREMIER
Taipei, Nov. 21 (CNA) Premier Yu Shyi-kun said Friday that the
Republic of China's pursuit of referendum legislation and a new
constitution is purely a domestic issue and should not be interpreted
as an action designed to provoke mainland China.
Yu made the remarks at a Legislative Yuan plenary session where
opposition Kuomintang Legislator Chu Feng-chih asked about Yu's views
on Beijing's and Washington's stances on the ROC government's push
for referendum legislation and a new constitution.
Quoting statements made by U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of
State Randall G. Schriver during a news briefing for Taiwan reporters
posted in Washington, D.C. a day earlier, Yu said the Bush
administration acknowledges Taiwan's pursuit of referendum
legislation and a new constitution as a matter of "Taiwan domestic
politics."
"The United States has been clear on its attitude toward our
referendum and new constitution proposals. It will not meddle in our
pursuit," Yu said.
Noting what the U.S government is concerned is President Chen
Shui-bian's "four noes plus one" commitment, Yu said the government
has assured the Bush administration that the pursuit of referendum
legislation and a new constitution has nothing to do with changing
Taiwan's status quo or establishing a "Republic of Taiwan."
As for Beijing's warning that the use of force might be
"unavoidable" if Taiwan moves toward independence in the guise of
pursuing referendum legislation and a new constitution, Yu said the
United States is obligated to helping maintain peace and stability in
the Taiwan Strait in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA)
-- the U.S. law that regulates relations with Taiwan.
Yu also urged Beijing to respect Taiwan's efforts to deepen and
consolidate its young democracy and upgrading its overall national
competitiveness through promoting referendum legislation and writing
a new constitution that fits Taiwan's present reality. He said Beijing
should not regard this pursuit as provocative action.
During Thursday's news briefing, Schriver reiterated the firm
U.S. opposition to the use of force in settling the Taiwan Strait
issue.
"The Taiwan Relations Act 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
(between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait), " Shriver said, adding:
"This is not only our law, it's embedded in our policy that we are
firmly opposed to the use of force in trying to settle the
differences between the two sides."
(By Sofia Wu)
ENDITEM/J
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