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.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS