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NO U.S.-TAIWAN UNDERSTANDING GAP ON NUC CESSATION ISSUE: U.S. OFFICAL

ROC Central News Agency

2006-03-03 12:45:01

    Washington, March 2 (CNA) A U.S. official ruled out Thursday the existence of any discrepancies between Washington and Taipei on their understanding of President Chen Shui-bian's move to cease the operations of the National Unification Council (NUC) in Taiwan, namely that "the NUC had not been abolished." "It is our understanding from the authorities in Taiwan that the action they took on Feb. 27 was deliberately designed not to change the status quo, and that was made clear in a statement by President Chen, and that we have every confidence and assurance that the statements made by President Chen are reflective of his policy and his party's policy, " said State Department deputy spokesman J. Adam Ereli during a regular press briefing.

    Ereli made the remarks when asked to comment on whether there are any gaps between the U.S. understanding and Taiwan's on the issue, in the wake of reports which quoted some officials in Taiwan as saying that there is no difference as to whether the term "abolish" or "cease to function" is used in this case because the NUC is "terminated" in reality.

    He said Washington has been informed by Taipei that the reports are not accurate because the officials have been misquoted. "There shouldn't be any gap or difference of opinion here. President Chen's assurances were quite clear that the NUC had not been abolished," Ereli said in reiteration of his previous statement.

    Ereli had previously said the U.S. understanding of the meaning of ceasing the NUC's functions is that "it has not been abolished. It's been frozen."

    Chen announced Feb. 27 his decision that the NUC would "cease to function" and that the National Unification Guidelines would "cease to apply."

    While making the announcement, Chen stated that Taiwan does not intend to change the cross-Taiwan Strait status quo and opposes any attempts to use non-peaceful means to do so.

(By Oliver Lin and Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/Li