President Chen Shui-bian (
"By the time I complete my presidency in 2008, I hope to hand to the people of Taiwan and to our country a new version of our Constitution -- one that is timely, relevant and viable. This is my historic responsibility and my commitment to the people," Chen said.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
"I am fully aware that consensus has yet to be reached on issues related to national sovereignty, territory and the subject of unification/independence; therefore, let me explicitly propose that these particular issues be excluded from the present constitutional re-engineering project," he said.
The inauguration ceremony began in rainy weather at 9am at the Presidential Office.
Supervised by Judicial Yuan President Weng Yueh-sheng (
After signing the official documents appointing Premier Yu Shyi-kun, Presidential Office Secretary-General Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) and National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), Chen received foreign delegations and accepted their congratulations.
In his inaugural speech, "Paving the Way for a Sustainable Taiwan," Chen sought to reduce tensions with China and to reassure the US that his plans for a new constitution would not stir up trouble.
Chen said the first step is to have the legislature pass a constitutional amendment, something he said during the election campaign he wouldn't do.
"Accordingly, after the passage by the legislature, members of the first and also the last Ad Hoc National Assembly will be elected and charged with the task of adopting the constitutional reform proposal as passed by the legislature, abolishing the National Assembly, and incorporating into the Constitution the people's right to referendum on constitutional revision," Chen said.
As to the future of cross-strait relations, Chen expressed "understanding" toward Beijing's "one China" principle -- something the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government has never done -- and said an environment of peaceful development and freedom of choice would allow the two sides to seek to establish relations in any form.
"We can understand why the government on the other side of the Strait, in light of historical complexities and ethnic sentiments, cannot relinquish the insistence on the `one China' principle," Chen said. "By the same token, the Beijing authorities must understand the deep conviction held by the people of Taiwan to strive for democracy, to love peace, to pursue their dreams free from threat, and, to embrace progress," he said.
Noting that Taiwan is a free and democratic society, Chen said neither an individual nor a political party alone can make the ultimate choice for the people.
"We should not exclude any possibilities, so long as there is the consent of the 23 million people of Taiwan," Chen said.
He urged both sides to establish a dynamic "peace and stability framework" for interactions.
To express his goodwill to maintain stability in cross-strait affairs, Chen, while not directly reiterating the "five noes" made in his 2000 inauguration speech, said he would follow the promises and principles set forth in 2000.
"Those commitments have been honored -- they have not changed over the past four years, nor will they change in the next four years," Chen said.
He also reaffirmed his resolution to establish a committee that would gather input from all parties and the public to draft guidelines for cross-strait peace and development.
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