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CEASING NUC OPERATIONS THREATENS CROSS-STRAIT STATUS QUO: FRANCE

ROC Central News Agency

2006-03-01 13:01:22

    Paris, Feb. 28 (CNA) Taiwan's decision to cease the functioning of its National Unification Council (NUC) and the application of its National Unification Guidelines (NUG) "could prove prejudicial to the maintenance of the status quo" across the Taiwan Strait, a French Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said Tuesday. "France is not in favor of any unilateral initiative that could revive tensions and bring into question the status quo in relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, " ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said during a daily press briefing.

    Mattei reiterated that the "one China" policy is followed by France and the European Union, which he said attach great importance to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. "In the context of its one-China policy, France continues to believe that the question of Taiwan must be resolved peacefully within the framework of negotiations between mainland China and Taiwan, involving all the parties on a mutually acceptable basis, " Mattei said.

    He said France noted that President Chen Shui-bian, while making the move, also reaffirmed previous commitments and his intention not to change the cross-strait status quo.

    Chen announced Monday that the NUC and NUG, which are symbolic of Taiwan's objective of unifying with China, should cease to function and apply. He signed official documents Tuesday to formally give effect to the decision.

    Also on Tuesday, ROC Representative to France Yang Tzu-pao said the representative office has presented a written statement to the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs to brief the French government that the decision is aimed at honestly reflecting the status quo in Taiwan.

    The statement emphasized that Taiwan shares similar democratic values with Europe and believes that Taiwan's sovereignty lies with its people and that people have the right to choose in terms of the future development of cross-strait relations, Yang said.

    He said the representative office has also released a statement to major French media organizations to reiterate that Taiwan has no intention to change the cross-strait status quo and that ceasing the operations of the NUC does not mean changing the status quo.

(By Lo Yuan-shao and Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li