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Bush-Hu meeting could be calm before storm: spokesman

ROC Central News Agency

2007-09-06 23:31:22

    Taipei, Sept. 6 (CNA) The government does not rule out the possibility that the just-concluded meeting between American and Chinese leaders in Sydney, Australia was "the calm before the storm," Executive Yuan spokesman Shieh Jhy-wey said Thursday.

    Shieh was referring to a 90-minute meeting between U.S. President George W. Bush and his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, earlier in the day on the sidelines of the annual Asia-Pacific Economic cooperation (APEC) forum, during which Taiwan-related topics are believed to have been high on the agenda.

    However, the end of their high-profile talks seemed to be "anti-climatic." Bush didn't deliver any remarks about the cross-Taiwan Strait issue at a post-talks news conference, while Hu only quoted Bush as having said during their meeting that the United States is firmly opposed to any change to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait.

    Shieh said the government has breathed a sigh of relief over the "results" of the widely watched Bush-Hu meeting. Nevertheless, he added that the government is fully aware that the APEC sidelines episode won't be the coda of the issue of Taiwan's quest for U.N. membership and its referendum initiative on the U.N. bid. "International pressure on our drive to seek U.N. entry under the name Taiwan will not subside with the end of the Sydney round of Bush-Hu talks, " Shieh said, adding that the government fully understands that it could be "the calm before the storm" and will be well prepared for any possible developments or challenges that may lie ahead.

    According to Shieh, the government feels that the results of the Bush-Hu meeting were not as unfriendly as expected. Noting that Hu's statement left room for interpretation, Shieh said it could be seen as a "win-win-win" situation allowing Taiwan, the United States and China to define the meaning of the status quo on their own right.

    Stressing that Taiwan shares the U.S. stance in opposing a unilateral change to the present cross-strait status quo, Shieh said the Democratic Progressive Party administration will stick to its guns in pursuing democracy and human rights.

    Analyzing the outcome of the Bush-Hu talks, Shieh said the United States might have softened its negative tone on Taiwan's U.N. referendum plan after coming to understand that the initiative was not an expression of President Chen Shui-bian's personal desires, but of a majority of Taiwan's public.

    Another reason behind Bush's silence and Hu's milder-than-expected talks might be their unwillingness to risk a backlash from the people of Taiwan, Shieh said.

    He further said even though the possibility of Taiwan succeeding in its quest for U.N. membership this year is very low, the government will not be daunted by setbacks along the way. "So long as the U.N. authorities deal with our application in line with the due process as set forth in the U.N. charter, it would be a gain for Taiwan. It will be tantamount to a correction of U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's previous statement that Taiwan is a part of China," Shieh said.

    According to Shieh, the main purpose of Taiwan's U.N. referendum initiative is to give the people of Taiwan an opportunity to demonstrate to the world their determination to pursue U.N. representation and a decent place in the international community. He added that by so doing, China will come to learn that independence is not just the desire of a "small handful of diehard radicals."

(By Sofia Wu)

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