MOFA urges U.S. to clarify Pentagon statement
ROC Central News Agency
2007-11-05 23:51:09
Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) The U.S. government should clarify its stance on a Pentagon press statement which claims that the United States supports peaceful unification of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) urged in a news release Monday.
The MOFA press release also expressed regret that the Pentagon press statement refers to Taiwan's planned U.N. bid referendum as an "independence referendum".
Noting that the Pentagon's statement claiming support for cross-strait peaceful unification obviously deviates from the Republic of China government's understanding of the conventional U.S. policy toward the cross-strait issue, the MOFA press statement said the U.S. government should offer a clarifiation.
The MOFA statement also rebutted the distortion of Taiwan's U.N. bid referendum as driving at independence, insisting that the move to hold a referendum on whether the country should apply for the U.N. membership under the name Taiwan arose from the grassroots and enjoys overwhelming support from the electorate and the endorsements of both ruling and oppostion parties.
Stressing that the planned referendum aims at showing the world the resolve and aspiration of the people of Taiwan to join the United Nations and other major international organizations, the MOFA statement said the referendum has nothing to do with changing the cross-strait status quo and is by no means an "independence referendum."
The Pentagon's controversial press release came amid the arrival of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates in Beijing Sunday for talks with the Chinese leaders on a range of issues, including nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea and the global war on terrorism. The statement also said the Chinese side is expected to bring up the Taiwan issue, including its upcoming "independence referendum."
(By Sofia Wu)
enditem/jnc
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