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TAIWAN, U.S. SHARE UNDERSTANDING OF NUC: MOFA

ROC Central News Agency

2006-03-03 19:54:19

    Taipei, March 2 (CNA) Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang said Friday that no official said that "cease to function" and "cease to apply" were no different from "abolition" when President Chen Shui-bian announced Feb. 27 the ceasing of the the function and application of the National Unification Council and the National Unification Guidelines.

    Huang said that he already clarified the matter with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Thursday and that the AIT also verified the matter by reviewing the complete video from the Feb. 27 press conference. "We have clarified the matter very clearly with the United States," Huang said. "President Chen's seven-point statement Feb. 27 has already made our stand very clear: Not only will we not change the status quo, we also oppose any side changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait through non-peaceful means, " he said, adding that there is no difference between Taiwan and the U.S. understanding of the issue.

    Huang made the statement in response to a U.S. Department of State press release March 2 saying that the Department of State read reports that some senior Taiwanese officials claimed that there is no distinction between "abolish" and "ceasing activity" regarding the council and the guidelines, but was informed that the officials were misquoted.

    The Department of State also said it expected the Taiwan authorities to "publicly correct the record and unambiguously affirm that the February 27 announcement did not abolish the National Unification Council, did not change the status quo, and that the assurances remain in effect."

    According to Huang, the problems originated from "a false report by the Voice of America." The report, which was in simplified Chinese and titled "Taiwanese Officials Stress No Difference Between 'Cease Activity' and 'Abolish, '" said both Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen and National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen denied there was any difference between "cease activity" and "abolish." The report was filed by Voice of America reporter Xu Bo Feb. 27.

    Huang said that "cease to apply" and "cease to function" are the most appropriate terms and that no other interpretations of the terms should be used.

(By Debby Wu)

ENDITEM/J