Taiwan urges U.S. to review 'outdated' guidelines
ROC Central News Agency
Washington, Sept. 12 (CNA) Taiwan's representative to the United States renewed Thursday a proposal for the U.S. government to review its guidelines on relations with Taiwan, which set various restrictions on the unofficial interactions between Washington and Taipei.
According to Jason Yuan, some of the restrictions listed in the guidelines seem out of date because they are the same as they were decades ago "although Taiwan-U.S. relations have been progressing."
However, as a routine, the U.S. State Department has repeated the guidelines to all U.S. embassies overseas between August and September every year since the 1980s, Yuan noted.
He said the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States has on many occasions requested Washington to review the guidelines, and that he believes the two sides will eventually come to a consensus for a change after mutual trust is established.
Yuan made the remarks when asked by Taiwanese media to comment on the State Department's move last week to again notify U.S. embassies overseas of the guidelines, which forbid U.S. officials from attending Taiwan's "Double Tenth" National Day receptions and from referring to Taiwan by its official name "the Republic of China."
In a report published Thursday, the Taipei-based Chinese language Liberty Times cited an unidentified former U.S. official as saying that the situation indicates that the recent transition of power in Taiwan and improvement in Taiwan-China relations have not led to any change in the policy of the Bush administration toward Taiwan.
For any possible breakthrough to be achieved, Taiwan would have to continue to challenge the restrictions through the new U.S. administration to be elected in November, the official told the daily.
The guidelines were adopted by the U.S. government after Washington switched recognition from Taipei to Beijing in 1979.
The guidelines also specify that meetings between U.S. and Taiwan officials may not occur in the State Department buildings, the White House or the Old Executive Office Building; and that executive branch personnel are not permitted to attend functions held at the Washington residence of Taiwan's representative to the United States.
Officials from the Department of Defense and State Department above the rank of office director or the rank of colonel or Navy captain are also restricted under the regulations from traveling to Taiwan on "official business," while executive branch officials at or above the level of assistant secretary of state or three star flag military officers may not travel to Taiwan for personal travel without advance clearance from the State Department, and all travel must be on "tourist" rather than "official" passports.
In addition, executive branch personnel are not permitted to officially correspond by mail directly with Taiwan officials unless their correspondence is first sent to the American Institute in Taiwan.
Such correspondence may not be on letterhead, nor may it contain the official title of the author, and personal correspondence between executive branch personnel and Taiwan officials are subject to the same restrictions, according to the guidelines.
Regarding official references to Taiwan, U.S. executive branch officials are not permitted to refer to Taiwan's government as a "government." Instead, the term "Taiwan authorities" must be used. The guidelines also restrict executive branch personnel from referring to the people of Taiwan as "Taiwanese" but require them instead to refer to the population as the "people on Taiwan." (By Jorge Liu and Y.F. Low) ENDITEM /pc
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