Wed, Feb 22, 2006 page3

• Anti-NUC protesters march on US office

  RESPECT TAIWAN A pro-Taiwan group convened at the US' de facto Taipei embassy and delivered petitions asking the US to recognize public opinion on the abolition of the NUC

  • By Jewel Huang / STAFF REPORTER WITH CNA
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  The Taiwan Hand-in-Hand Alliance organized a street demonstration outside the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday to demand that the US respect any decision to abolish the National Unification Council (NUC) and unification guidelines, as it reflects mainstream public opinion in Taiwan.

  Alliance leader Ng Chiau-tong (黃昭堂) led about 300 people who support President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) proposal to abolish the council on a march from the Daan Forest Park to the main gate of AIT.

  The group chanted "Taiwan and China, one state on either side," "abolish the NUC, protect Taiwan" and "respect mainstream public opinion" as they marched.

  Ng said the activity was not a protest, but an action aimed at informing the US of the will of the people of Taiwan.

  "The people of Taiwan rejected and detest China's `Anti-Secession' Law. But the National Unification Guidelines indicate in black and white that Taiwan is a part of China, which is unfair to Taiwan and we worry that they are an excuse for China to attack Taiwan," Ng said.

  "We believe that it is imperative that the NUC and the unification guidelines be rescinded," he said.

  National Policy Adviser Huang Hua (黃華), who joined the march, said the guidelines were established by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the people of Taiwan were never asked for their opinion.

  "For the sake of Taiwan's security, I urge everyone in Taiwan to support President Chen's proposal," Huang said.

  The alliance tried to deliver two letters -- one to US President George W. Bush and the other a statement to the US government and its people -- to AIT.

  AIT officials, however, did not send a representative out to receive the letters, so a policeman from the Daan Police Precinct accepted the letters on the AIT's behalf.

  Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) meanwhile declined yesterday to comment on a Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC) report that said Bush had sent an envoy to Taipei last week to deliver a warning about the plan to scrap the council.

  The BCC quoted an unnamed US official as saying the envoy was Dennis Wilder, the National Security Council's acting senior director for Asian affairs.

  Wilder was accompanied by Taiwan's representative to Washington, David Lee (李大維), on his Feb. 13 to Feb. 17 trip, the report said.

  Huang was questioned about the report by People First Party Legislator Chang Hsien-yao (張顯耀) at the legislature yesterday. "Because of diplomatic conventions, I can't divulge anything about the communication processes with the US," Huang said.

  A source in Washington late last night confirmed to the Taipei Times that David Lee returned to Taiwan last week with a high-ranking US official.

  Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan and Ko Shu-ling
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