Former US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage came to President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) defense on Friday over the decision to drop variations of "China" from the names of state-run firms and constitutional reform, saying the US State Department's criticism of the moves were an over-reaction by the Bush administration.
Regarding the name-change decision, which was criticized by the State Department as a move that altered the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait, Armitage said the decision "is not one that bothers me one way or the other."
On plans for constitutional reform, he said the issue was one for Taiwan's democracy to decide.
"We have to let the democratic process work its way out in a transparent way," he said.
Armitage was speaking to reporters in Washington after releasing a report -- of which he was a principal author -- on the future of US-Japan relations.
In the report he called for closer US-Japan ties, and said that Japan should seek to better understand US commitments to Taiwan's defense and the peaceful resolution of cross-strait tensions.
Armitage said that the State Department's recent negative reaction to Chen's initiatives represents Washington's sensitivity to the need for Chinese cooperation on a number of crucial issues it faces.
"We have all held the view that unilateral changes ought to be avoided," he said.
"So what Taiwan needs to take into consideration, at a time when the United States is depending so heavily on China on the questions of North Korea, is that to be seen unilaterally changing the status quo might give some headaches to the people in the State Department," he said, adding that such a response was "very understandable."
Regarding the name changes in particular, Armitage said: "I think [the State Department wants] to balance their equities with the People's Republic of China, with which we have to work closely."
Noting in particular the six-party talks on North Korea, Armitage said: "there are only so many problems that the United States can handle at one time."
In the report's section on Taiwan, the authors place an emphasis on the February 2005 statement by Tokyo and Washington, in the so-called "Two-plus-two talks" between the State Department, Pentagon and Japan's foreign and defense ministries, in which Japan declared that the peaceful solution of cross-strait relations is a common strategic objective with the US.
Randall Schriver, a former deputy assistant secretary of state responsible for Taiwan and China and a contributor to the report, said that the authors believe the Two-plus-two statement "could very well be the guiding principle for 2020, if the differences between the two sides [of the Taiwan Strait] remain unresolved."
"We think that embodied in that statement were certain obligations of the United States, and certain obligations of Japan: Our obligation under the Taiwan Relations Act to provide Taiwan weapons for self-defense, and to have the capacity to resist force. And Japan should understand those obligations and be supportive of the United States [position] with respect to those obligations," he said.
While the report, and much of Washington's recent focus, has been on Chen's actions and prospects for a declaration of independence, the report and Schriver's comments also aimed at the danger of pan-blue-camp moves toward China.
"If [Taiwan] goes in the other direction [toward unification], if the KMT [Chinese Nationalist Party] and others try to move more rapidly toward the PRC, that would be cause for a re-evaluation [of US policy toward Taiwan]," Schriver said.
Overall, the report said, "sustained democracy" is Taiwan's best chance of freedom, and that Washington and Tokyo share an interest in the "peaceful resolution of [cross-strait] issues through dialogue."
‘TAIWAN-FRIENDLY’: The last time the Web site fact sheet removed the lines on the US not supporting Taiwanese independence was during the Biden administration in 2022 The US Department of State has removed a statement on its Web site that it does not support Taiwanese independence, among changes that the Taiwanese government praised yesterday as supporting Taiwan. The Taiwan-US relations fact sheet, produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, previously stated that the US opposes “any unilateral changes to the status quo from either side; we do not support Taiwan independence; and we expect cross-strait differences to be resolved by peaceful means.” In the updated version published on Thursday, the line stating that the US does not support Taiwanese independence had been removed. The updated
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
RSS