Staff Reporters in Washington and Taipei, with CNA
The US ruled out on Thursday the existence of any discrepancies between Washington and Taipei on their understanding of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) move to cease the operations of the National Unification Council (NUC), namely that "the NUC had not been abolished."
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli rebutted Democratic Progressive Party politicians who had reportedly claimed that ceasing the function of the council was actually a way to disguise its abolition -- a step that would alter the cross-strait status quo.
Ereli made the remarks when asked to comment on whether there were any gaps between the US understanding of the issue and Taiwan's, in the wake of reports which quoted officials in Taiwan as saying that there was no difference as to whether the term "abolish" or "cease to function" was used in this case because the council was, in reality, "terminated."
Ereli said Taiwanese authorities have told the Bush administration that "these officials were misquoted, and the reports are inaccurate."
Ereli said there was no misunderstanding about the meaning of Chen's actions.
"President Chen's assurances were quite clear that the NUC has not been abolished," Ereli said.
"We've seen the reports of comments attributed to other party officials," Ereli noted.
"It is our understanding from the authorities in Taiwan that the actions they took on Feb. 27 were deliberately designed not to change the status quo, and that was made clear in the statement by President Chen," he said.
"We have every confidence and assurance that the statements made by President Chen are reflective of his and his party's policy," Ereli said.
Ereli said that as a result, there is no "gap or difference of opinion" between Washington and Taipei over what Chen said and meant in his Feb. 27 announcement on the NUC and the unification guidelines following his meeting with the National Security Council.
Ereli, in a written statement posted on the State Department's Web site on Thursday afternoon, requested that Taiwan clarify that Chen's recent move to "cease the function" of the NUC "did not abolish" the organization.
"We expect the Taiwanese authorities publicly to correct the record and unambiguously affirm that the Feb. 27 announcement did not abolish the National Unification Council, did not change the status quo and that the assurances remain in effect," he said.
Ereli said the US has been informed that the reports misquoted Taiwan officials.
Back in Taipei, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (
"The root of all the problems was this incorrect report. Actually in the Feb. 27 press conference at the Presidential Office, the concerned officials did not make the remarks that `ceasing the activity of' was equal to `abolishing' it," Huang said yesterday.
Huang said the report in question referred to a news article by Voice of America which on Feb. 27 reported that both Presidential Office Secretary-General Mark Chen (
The foreign minister confirmed yesterday that the phrases "cease to function" and "cease to apply" with respect to the NUC and the guidelines were based on comprehensive consideration and the opinion of legal experts.
"We think they are the most appropriate terms and we hope that there are no further twisted interpretations of these terms," Huang said.
The foreign minister explained that throughout the bilateral communications, Taipei had made it clear that it will stick to the term "ceasing" when handling the NUC and guidelines.
"We have been very straightforward with them [the US] throughout the whole process and we don't have anything to hide," Huang said.
Huang also confirmed that he had personally made the clarifications to American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) officials who came to discuss the issue with him on Thursday.
Huang said that AIT officials reviewed the video tape of the Presidential Office press conference on Feb. 27, but did not notice any Taiwanese officials making the questionable remarks.
When pressed by reporters about whether the NUC and guidelines still exist, Huang yesterday only said "the president has made it clear that the NUC and guidelines will cease to function and cease to apply."
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