ROC ENVOY DEBUNKS REPORT ABOUT U.S. RESPONSE TO CHEN'S SPEECH
ROC Central News Agency
2006-01-11 01:27:52
Washington, Jan. 10 (CNA) The ROC representative to the United States debunked Tuesday a media report that the U.S. government had "rejected" the draft of President Chen Shui-bian's New Year's Day address three times before its delivery.
Stressing that the Republic of China is a sovereign state, David Ta-wei Lee said the media report about the U.S. preview of Chen's address and its snub of the draft was sheer speculation.
Lee said the ROC representative office in Washington, D.C. had indeed consulted with U.S. authorities about the president's New Year address. In the process, Lee said, relevant U.S. authorities had expressed their views and the representative office had faithfully conveyed their opinions to Taipei officials. And Taipei had responded sincerely, Lee added.
Judging from the U.S. State Department response to press queries after Chen's address was delivered Jan. 1, Lee said, the U.S. fully understood the content of the president's address. Otherwise, he said, the U.S. response would not be so mild.
In his New Year speech, Chen renewed his overture for the enactment of a new constitution that is "timely, relevant and viable" by 2008, saying he hopes a draft of the new constitution can be completed this year and that a referendum on the draft can be held in 2007.
Chen also proclaimed that the "active management, effective opening" policy on cross-strait economic activities will replace the existing one calling for "active opening, effective management." Chen said the government must actively manage cross-strait investment and economic exchanges in order to effectively reduce risks of liberalization.
(By Oliver Lin and Sofia Wu)
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