KMT Legislator John Chang (章孝嚴) yesterday lodged a strong protest against a Liberty Times report that said Chang and some other KMT and PFP legislators had spoken in favor of China during their visit to the US last month.
The report also said the group criticized the Chen administration while on the trip.
Chang, who led the delegation, said he reserves the right to take legal action against the paper for what he called a mistaken report.
"The purpose of the US tour was to make the voices of the opposition heard and to fight for the rights of Taiwan from Taiwan's perspective," Chang said.
According to the Liberty Times report, which cited some unnamed pro-Taiwan US sources, the cross-strait policy put forth by Chang's delegation had confused their US friends and caused them to wonder whether Taiwan has a common national goal.
For example, the report said that in a discussion with experts at the RAND Corporation, a US think tank, the KMT and PFP legislators said President Chen Shui-bian (
The legislators said people would worry about Taiwan's future if Chen wins re-election in 2004, because most of them were in favor of maintaining the status quo and against Taiwan independence, the report said.
The report also said the law-makers told people in the US that most Taiwanese were afraid Chen would abuse public opinion to direct the country toward independence and lead the public to believe that the US was supportive of a pro-independence cross-strait policy.
In what was considered a move to lobby on behalf of China, the legislators reportedly urged the US to drop its containment policy toward China and instead try to help restore dialogue between Taiwan and China.
In response to the legislators' remarks, RAND Corporation experts reminded them that the opposition parties in Taiwan could not claim they represent the majority public opinion and attack the government's policies at will just because they obtained over 60 percent of votes, the paper said.
The paper cited the RAND experts as saying that US Republicans did not oppose the major diplomatic policies of the Bill Clinton administration, though Clinton's vote share did not exceed 50 percent.
The KMT and PFP legislators, however, reportedly continued to express their opposition against the DPP government's cross-strait policy during their meetings with US officials and members of the Congress in Washington.
DPP legislator Parris Chang (張旭成) yesterday told the Taipei Times that he has heard negative reactions similar to those reported by the Liberty Times from US government officials in Washington.
Parris Chang, a senior member of the legislature's Foreign and Overseas Chinese Committee, was in Washington last month to make arrangements for first lady Wu Shu-chen's (
Parris Chang said the US officials he contacted said they were "very shocked" at hearing the KMT and PFP legislators' arguments. He said the officials told him they felt it was inappropriate for the lawmakers to bring up Taiwan domestic politics in Washington.
According to Parris Chang, the US officials were surprised to see that John Chang, a former minister of foreign affairs, "has changed so much" and "become so politicized."
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