The US said it was satisfied with the way that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) dealt with the National Unification Council and guidelines on Monday, saying that his action in mothballing the council did not amount to a unilateral change in the status quo, thus satisfying Washington's main concern in relation to the dispute.
"We welcome President Chen's reaffirmation of his administration's commitment to cross-strait peace and stability, and Taiwan's commitment to the pledges that President Chen made in his inaugural address to not unilaterally alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters in Washington.
Chen's decision "did not abolish the National Unification Council," McClellan said.
PHOTO: CNA
The laudatory tone was echoed by Adam Ereli, the State Department spokesman, who told his daily press briefing that Chen "reaffirmed his continuing commitment to the pledges he made in his 2000 inaugural address not to change the status quo across the Straits [sic]."
But Ereli indicated that the wording Chen used in his announcement may not have completely erased the mistrust that the issue has stirred up.
"We attach great importance to that commitment," Ereli said, "and we'll be following his follow-through carefully."
"And we certainly look forward to [Chen] fulfilling those commitments," he said.
McClellan and Ereli also called on Beijing to open a dialogue with Chen and his government to work out differences on cross-strait policy, indicating that they felt Chen's compromise on the unification issue should be reciprocated by Beijing by opening dialogue with Chen's government.
"The United States continues to also stress the need for Beijing to open a meaningful dialogue with the duly elected leadership in Taiwan that leads to a peaceful resolution of their differences," McClellan said.
Ereli declined to say whether the US considered the unification council issue closed.
"For us, the episode is closed or the issue is closed when parties on both sides of the Straits [sic] resolve their differences [through cross-strait dialogue," he said.
The wording of Chen's announcement that the council will "cease functioning" and the guidelines will "cease to apply" was the result of weeks of intense pressure exerted on Chen by the Bush administration not to abolish the council.
After his Lunar New Year speech late last month, when Chen first announced that he was considering scrapping the council and guidelines, the US complained loudly that such a move would unilaterally change the "status quo" across the Taiwan Strait, breaking a bedrock principle of US cross-strait policy.
After weeks of jawboning -- including the dispatch of high-level US officials to Taipei for talks with Chen, the details of which remain secret -- the US managed to get Chen to back away from his abolition plan.
But US officials refused to say whether the words Chen used on Monday were dictated by them.
The logjam was broken several days ago, when Chen agreed to "freeze," rather than "abolish," the workings of the council and applicability of the guidelines.
It is not clear what Chen got in return for bowing to US pressure. US officials say there was no quid pro quo, such as a pledge by Washington to lean harder on Beijing to open talks with the Chen government.
But Ereli asserted that there cannot be meaningful cross-strait dialogue "if there isn't the confidence between both sides that the other one isn't taking unilateral steps."
According to Ereli, Chen's words amounted to "freezing" the unification mechanism, an acceptable compromise between the conflicting desires of Chen and Washington.
Hong Kong singer Andy Lau’s (劉德華) concert in Taipei tonight has been cancelled due to Typhoon Kong-rei and is to be held at noon on Saturday instead, the concert organizer SuperDome said in a statement this afternoon. Tonight’s concert at Taipei Arena was to be the first of four consecutive nightly performances by Lau in Taipei, but it was called off at the request of Taipei Metro, the operator of the venue, due to the weather, said the organizer. Taipei Metro said the concert was cancelled out of consideration for the audience’s safety. The decision disappointed a number of Lau’s fans who had
A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation. The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am. As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph. Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA
Commuters in Taipei picked their way through debris and navigated disrupted transit schedules this morning on their way to work and school, as the city was still working to clear the streets in the aftermath of Typhoon Kong-rey. By 11pm yesterday, there were estimated 2,000 trees down in the city, as well as 390 reports of infrastructure damage, 318 reports of building damage and 307 reports of fallen signs, the Taipei Public Works Department said. Workers were mobilized late last night to clear the debris as soon as possible, the department said. However, as of this morning, many people were leaving messages
A Canadian dental assistant was recently indicted by prosecutors after she was caught in August trying to smuggle 32kg of marijuana into Taiwan, the Aviation Police Bureau said on Wednesday. The 30-year-old was arrested on Aug. 4 after arriving on a flight to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Chang Tsung-lung (張驄瀧), a squad chief in the Aviation Police Bureau’s Criminal Investigation Division, told reporters. Customs officials noticed irregularities when the woman’s two suitcases passed through X-ray baggage scanners, Chang said. Upon searching them, officers discovered 32.61kg of marijuana, which local media outlets estimated to have a market value of more than NT$50 million (US$1.56
RSS