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CHEN'S SPEECH HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH STATUS QUO CHANGE: MINISTER

ROC Central News Agency

2006-02-01 23:56:54

    Taipei, Feb. 1 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian's Lunar New Year's Day speech has nothing to do with changing the Taiwan Strait status quo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Huang Chih-fang said Wednesday.

    Huang was commenting the U.S. State Department's initial response to Chen's speech that the United States is opposed to any unilateral move by either Taiwan or China to change the Taiwan Strait status quo.

    Chen said at a Lunar New Year gathering with his supporters in the southern county of Tainan Sunday that now may be an appropriate time to seriously consider scrapping the National Unification Guideline and the National Unification Council to signify Taiwan's unique national identity.

    In his speech, Chen also came up with two other proposals -- considering applying for United Nations membership under the name of Taiwan if the official national title "Republic of China" cannot be used and drafting a new constitution for Taiwan by the end of this year to be put forth for a referendum in 2007.

    Huang said the president's speech came amid China's intensified suppression against Taiwan since Beijing's enactment of its so-called anti-secession law targeting Taiwan.

    Politically, Huang said, China has forged extensive contacts with Taiwan's opposition parties in attempt to deepen divisions in Taiwan's already polarized society and debase Taiwan's democratically elected administration.

    Diplomatically, Huang said, China has spared no effort to block Taiwan's presence in the international arena. Among others, China rudely killed Taiwan's recent application for taking part in an executive commission meeting of the World Health Organization.

    Economically, Huang said, China has stepped up its "united front" tactics to lure Taiwan investors. "Should this trend continue unabated, we are afraid that local people will unwittingly lean toward China, which could eventually lead to changes to Taiwan's status quo," he argued.

    As the national leader, Huang said, President Chen is obliged to remind local people of possible pitfalls ahead. "Chen's Lunar New Year speech mainly reflected his worries about China's relentless suppression against Taiwan. Local people should understand Chen's proposals from this perspective and refrain from taking his words out of context," Huang said.

    Moreover, Huang said, Chen's call for considering the feasibility of abolishing the National Unification Council was a response to the opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan's recent resolution that demands the Presidential Office dissolve all ad hoc panels and commissions whose establishment doesn't have a legal basis.

    Noting that the legislature's resolution included in its review of the Presidential Office's 2006 budget bill, Huang said the National Unification Council is one of the commissions that meet the legislature's requirements for disbanding.

    As to the U.S. claim that if Taiwan applies for U.N. membership under the name of Taiwan rather than its official title of the Republic of China, it would constitute a change to the Taiwan Strait status quo, Huang said it seems to him that the U.S. has misunderstood Chen's remarks. "The use of formal national title is definitely the first choice, but if the national title cannot be used, we should consider using Taiwan," Huang said, adding that the government will strengthen communciations with the U.S.

(By sofia Wu)

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