JAPAN STILL WATCHING ATTITUDE OF U.S. TOWARD REFERENDUM: ROC ENVOY
2003-12-18 18:15:44
Taipei, Dec. 18 (CNA) Japan is still observing how the United States is reacting to the planned referendum by Taiwan and is not expected to express its stance on the issue any time soon, ROC Representative to Japan Lo Fu-chuan said Thursday.
Fielding questions at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign Affairs Committee, Lo said Japan would not like to see any conflict between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.
Up to now, Lo said, Japanese authorities have not yet expressed its views on Taiwan's plan to hold a "defensive referendum" on the day of the upcoming presidential election on March 20, 2004 to allow its people to voice opposition to mainland China's deployment of hundreds of missiles pointed at the Republic of China on Taiwan.
Unconfirmed reports said mainland China's embassy in Tokyo had asked the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs to publicly oppose Taiwan's planned referendum.
But Lo said Japan has so far not made any comments on the issue. To the best of his understanding, Lo said, Japanese authorities thought that the time was not yet ripe for them to express opinions about the plan.
Lo said Japanese authorities have also not discussed the referendum issue with him. "I think they are still watching the U.S.' attitude toward Taiwan's referendum plan, " he said, adding that the U.S. government will certainly inform Japan of its stance on Taiwan's planned referendum.
Senior U.S. officials have expressed explicit opposition to Taiwan holding a referendum that would change Taiwan's status or move toward independence.
President Chen Shui-bian has said on many occasions that the March 20 referendum is aimed at preserving Taiwan's present status quo and will not touch on the "independence versus unification" subject.
(By Sofia Wu)
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