Wed, Dec 03, 2003 page1

• Presidential Office mum on contact with US official

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Presidential Office refused to comment yesterday on whether President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) had recently met a US government official to discuss Washington's concerns over Chen's plan for a "defensive referendum."

  A source from the Presidential Office said communications between Taiwan and the US remain smooth.

  "If there was any official from Washington, we believe that it should be regarded as a kind of regular communication," the source said.

  familiar response

  The source said that the reaction of the US government to the president's defensive referendum was similar to its initial reaction to Chen's announcement of pushing for a new constitution.

  "They just expect to precisely understand what the president's intention is and what will be the concrete action of Taiwan's government," the source said.

  According to media reports from Washington yesterday, James Moriarty, a special assistant to US President George W. Bush and senior director for Asian affairs, had visited Taiwan in the past few days and met Chen at the Presidential Office.

  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and American Institute in Taiwan denied the report.

  A senior official at the Presidential Office told the Taipei Times he couldn't comment on the matter.

  Meanwhile, Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), deputy secretary-general to the president, reaffirmed that Chen and the government maintain the "five-noes" promise made during Chen's inauguration speech, adding that the defensive referendum will not address reunification or independence.

  "Those Taiwan offices of foreign news agencies have delivered wrong information by describing President Chen's defensive referendum as an independence referendum," Wu said. "We want to reaffirm that the president's `five noes' remain unchanged and any development of Taiwan's democracy should not be defined simply as a reunification or independence move," he said.

  Wu said the president will choose an appropriate time to explain the meaning of his defensive referendum and urged the international community not to be misled by the pan-blue camp.

  "No matter what policy the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has announced, the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] and the People First Party [PFP] alliance described it as a move toward independence," Wu said.

  "This is just like Beijing always accusing Taiwan of plotting to realize independence every time the country makes achievements in democratic reform," he said.

  popular support

  "While over 60 percent of Taiwan's people in recent polls showed their support for the president's idea of a new constitution and realizing a referendum mechanism, even the opposition alliance made a U-turn to follow the president's step," Wu said.

  "We hope that China, especially Beijing's leaders, squarely faces Taiwan's real situation and does not take any wrong action by relying on biased information."

  In a campaign speech Saturday, Chen announced that, during the March 20 presidential election, he plans to hold a "defensive referendum" as authorized under the newly passed Referendum Law (公民投票法).

  Noting the danger posed by China's 496 missiles targeting Taiwan, Chen said that, as head of state, he has the obligation to defend the nation's sovereignty. He said the defensive referendum is a tool to unite Taiwanese and demonstrate the will of the country's 23 million people.
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