• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

PRESIDENT'S REMARKS NOT AIMED AT CHANGING TAIWAN'S STATUS: DPP

ROC Central News Agency

2007-03-05 14:19:27

    Taipei, March 5 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian's "four wants and one without" remarks, including "Taiwan wants independence, " are not aimed at changing Taiwan's existing status, the whip of the legislative caucus of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said Monday.

    Wang Tuo said Taiwan has long been a sovereign state -- as was stated clearly in a 1999 DPP resolution on Taiwan's future, adding that he believes that the president's reiteration of Taiwan's need for independence was merely an attempt to win the recognition of the international community on the issue.

    Wang said Taiwan's being a sovereign state independent of China is an undeniable fact, but this fact has not been widely recognized in the international community because of Beijing's persistent efforts to diplomatically suppress Taiwan. Even some Taiwan politicians have not dared to declare the fact in front of Chinese news media or Chinese political figures, he added.

    Consequently, Wang said, he understands that Chen's reiteration of the independence cause is aimed at winning recognition from the rest of the world.

    Wang added that the president's latest "four wants and one without" doctrine -- namely Taiwan wants independence, a new constitution, further development, a change to the country's official designation, and there is no polarization of Taiwan into right and left wings -- is no different from what the ruling DPP has strived to achieve or worked to safeguard over the past years.

    Noting that the "four wants and one without" remarks do not represent an attempt to change Taiwan's existing status, Wang urged the public not to be "too sensitive" to them.

    Wang added that the president's latest remarks are of the same spirit as the "five noes" pledge that he first made in his inaugural address in 2000, including that as long as Beijing has no intention of using military force against Taiwan, he will not declare independence, not change Taiwan's name, not add the state-to-state theory to the Constitution, not promote a referendum on the independence versus unification issue, and not abolish the National Unification Guidelines and the National Unification Council.

(By Deborah Kuo)

ENDITEM/Li