Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) spent a grueling day in Washington Thursday trying to clarify President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) "one country on each side of the Strait," statement and convince the city's Taiwan watchers that the government's cross-strait policy had not changed.
While she appeared to have convinced many of the dozens of officials, congressional staffers and think-tank opinion makers she spoke with, some doubts remained.
The Capitol hill staffers she lunched with at a tony restaurant near the Capitol appeared less than pleased with her explanation of what exactly Chen said in his teleconference speech to an overseas pro-independence group in Tokyo, and with the English translation, sources say.
"The explanation in English was not compelling," one attendee told the Taipei Times.
The staffers reportedly tried unsuccessfully to find out what the original remarks were, and what they meant, during the two-hour closed-door session, focusing mainly on Chen's one-side-two-countries remarks.
Tsai told the staffers the purpose of Chen's speech was to "reconcile the government's position on the future of Taiwan with the party's position" now that he is DPP chairman.
"She said a referendum was entirely consistent with what his formulation was before, which is that he wouldn't call for a referendum if China's intentions were peaceful.
"His view was that as president he couldn't make a decision for the rest of the people of Taiwan. It would have be a collective decision on Taiwan's future.
She referred back to a 1999 DPP party resolution that referred to Taiwan as a country and said that "collective concurrence" would be needed to change the status quo, an attendee said. She also referred to this week's MAC statement that said a referendum would be called only if China used force or tried to force a "one-China-two-systems"formula on Taiwan.
Earlier, Tsai met with a cross-section of scholars and others who help formulate Washington's China policy, and seemed to be more successful in convincing them that the policy has not changed, during a two-hour session at the Brookings Institution.
Asked how the session went, Tsai said only, "I think it's fine."
"The fundamental point that she was making was that there was not policy change here," said Bob Grealy, an Asia analyst for the financial firm of J. P. Morgan Chase after the session.
Chen's position, Tsai told the group, "was the position that the party has always had, and it was not an issue of a referendum on independence, it's a referendum on the issue of sovereignty, and [her explanation] took the sting out of what looked like a radical departure," he said.
Grealy also said Tsai's explanations would ease the international business community's concerns over Chen's remarks.
"I came away from that saying I am not concerned. And I don't think the business community will be concerned," he said, noting the Taiwan stock market's rapid recovery after an initial plunge.
Grealy said the audience reaction to Tsai was "very positive."
Former American Institute in Taiwan director Richard Bush, now the head of Brookings' Northeast Asia program, called the session a "very good exchange" and an "example of good communication," but refused to give details.
Arthur Waldron, the head of Asia programs for the American Enterprise Institute, hinted at the difficulty Tsai must have had during the meeting, saying "it's a very difficult mission she has."
Tsai has extended her visit, which originally was to have lasted only two days, through the weekend.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS