The US on Friday accused the Chen Shui-bian (
"The referendum that has been discussed seems to change every day," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters at his regular daily press briefing.
"I think the point that we make consistently and that is not going to change is that referendums that are aimed at changing the status quo are something that we oppose," he said.
However, he refused to go into the sensitive matter of whether the referendum on China's missile buildup opposite Taiwan, which Chen plans to hold coincidentally with the presidential election is, in fact, one that would change the status quo.
"If there's confusion, I'm not in a position to clarify things at this point," the George W. Bush administration's foreign policy spokesman said.
"I'm not in a position to comment on the latest form of the referendum that's being discussed. That's a moving target, frankly," he said.
He added that cross-strait dialogue "is the way to solve this issue."
While President Bush delivered a personal snub to Chen's plans for a referendum after the US leader's meeting with Chinese premier Wen Jiabao (
Administration officials in recent weeks have tried to differentiate between what they see as different forms of referendums: those dealing with independence and unification, on the one hand, and those dealing with internal political matters and national security issues, on the other.
While they clearly oppose any independence-unification polls, their position on other types of referendums has not been made clear.
Indeed, it was in an attempt to clarify just such questions that Bush late last year sent top National Security Council official James Moriarty to Taipei to present a personal letter from Bush to Chen complaining about the planned referendum.
Nevertheless, Taiwan officials continue to complain about their lack of clear understanding of the US position, and US officials continue to complain about Taiwan's lack of response to Washington's position in a clear and consistent manner.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or
RSS