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TAIWAN COMMUNICATES WITH U.S. OVER PRESIDENT'S WORDS: MOFA

ROC Central News Agency

2006-02-06 17:10:29

    Taipei, Feb. 6 (CNA) Minister of Foreign Affairs Huang Chih-fang said Monday that communications with the United States over President Chen Shui-bian's proposal to consider scrapping the National Unification Council (NUC) and the National Unification Guidelines have been "rational and amiable."

    Huang said that David Ta-wei lee, the Republic of China representative to the United States, has been instructed to communicate with Washington over Chen's Jan. 29 Lunar New Year message.

    Huang said he also communicated with Dana Shell Smith, acting director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto U.S. embassy in Taiwan in the absence of diplomatic ties. "The communications have been rational and in an amiable atmosphere," Huang said.

    He claimed that at issue is a "perception gap" between Taiwan and the United Stats over whether Chen's message was intended to change the status quo of the Taiwan Strait.

    Taiwan has stressed to Washington that Taiwan shares the stance of the United States that the status quo should be maintained, but is concerned that after China enacted its Anti-Secession Law in March 2005, as well as various political changes since then, the cross-strait situation is tilting in favor of China, which will probably change the cross-strait status quo, Huang said. "Chen's message should be read in this context, " said Huang, who added that "this also reflected the worries of many people in Taiwan."

    Faced with the changes in the Taiwan Strait, Huang claimed that Washington "might not be able to keep abreast of the latest developments. This is why there is a gap in perception requiring communication on both sides," he added.

    He also said that during his communications, he was unaware that the U.S. was infuriated by Chen's remarks and said the Foreign Affairs Ministry has checked with senior U.S. officials, who have said the reports are unfounded.

    A Taiwan newspaper quoted Sunday a Nelson Report from the United States as claiming that Bush was infuriated by Chen's proposal to abolish the NUC.

(By Lilian Wu)

ENDITEM/J