'FOUR WANTS' REMAINS LIVE ISSUE IN TAIWAN-U.S. TIES: OUTGOING ENVOY
ROC Central News Agency
2007-03-19 12:47:54
Washington, March 18 (CNA) The "four wants, one without" doctrine recently touted by President Chen Shui-bian remains an issue of concern between Taiwan and the United States, the outgoing Taiwan representative to Washington, D.C. said Sunday.
David Ta-wei Lee made the remarks prior to his departure for Dallas, Texas to accompany Foreign Affairs Minister James Huang in attending a board meeting of the World Federation of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce.
Lee, a career diplomat of the opposition Kuomintang, confirmed that Taiwan's top China policy planner -- Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu -- will soon replace him as Taiwan's top representative to the United States and that he himself will be transferred to serve as the country's representative to neighboring Canada.
Noting that Wu has participated in the formulation of Taiwan's policy toward China, Lee said it is befitting to get Wu to communicate with the U.S. administration about the "four wants, one without" doctrine.
Wu, who has a doctoral degree in political science from Ohio State University, will be the first politician from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to serve as Taiwan's representative to the United States.
According to Lee, Wu is scheduled to assume his new post around April 10. Lee himself is also scheduled to fly directly to Ottawa from Washington, D.C. around April 10 to take up his new post.
As Wu is known to be well-versed in Taiwan-U.S. affairs, Lee said, the U.S. government gave a positive response when he informed it of the Taiwan government's plan to replace him with Wu earlier this year. "The process of conveying our government's personnel reshuffle plan to the U.S. authorities proceeded pretty smoothly. The U.S. administration welcomed Wu's appointment in the first place, " Lee recalled, adding that "the new personnel arrangements are good to both our government and myself."
During his brief news conference at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, Taiwan journalists asked Lee what the first and foremost mission Wu may face upon assuming office and whether the "four wants, one without" controversy remains alive and developing.
The "four wants, one without" refers to President Chen's March 4 statement that Taiwan wants "independence, a new constitution, further development and a change of its official name" and that there will be no polarization in local society.
Lee said the "four wants" doctrine indeed remains an issue in Taiwan-U.S. engagement. "Given his role in Taiwan's cross-strait policy formulation, Wu will do a good job in communicating with U.S. authorities about this issue," he added.
In his view, Lee continued, Taiwan-U.S. relations are very complicated and encompass a wide range of issues. As Wu has made frequent visits to the United States during his stints as deputy chief of staff to President Chen and as the MAC chief to meet with U.S. officials and think tank scholars on the DPP administration's major policy initiatives, Lee said Wu will be able to take up his new job in stride.
Reviewing his stint as Taiwan's top envoy stationed in the U.S. capital, Lee said he has largely fulfilled one of his two major work goals -- strengthening communications between the executive branches of the two countries.
As to the other goal -- beefing up mutual trust between Taiwan and U.S. authorities, Lee conceded that even though he has pulled out all the stops to work for this end during his 32-month tenure, there is still ample room to improve in this regard. "It is hoped that my successor will continue working hard for this goal," he added.
Touching on his new job, Lee said he is no stranger to Taiwan-Canadian affairs. In 1990, Lee recalled that he accompanied the then-head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of North American Affairs to conduct four rounds of negotiations with Canada on the exchange of representative offices between the two countries. "After a 20-year hiatus, Taiwan and Canada finally agreed in that year to exchange representative offices to facilitate development of substantive relations in the absence of formal diplomatic ties, " Lee recalled. Canada switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1970.
Lee continued his involvement in affairs with Canada during his tenure as deputy director and later as director of the ministry's North American Affairs Department. Given all these experiences, Lee said confidently that he will be able to "do something" for the country after taking up his new assignment.
(By Jorge Liu, Chiehyu Lin and Sofia Wu)
enditem/Li
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