Presidential Office Secretary-General Yu Shyi-kun has appealed to the US government and the US Congress to give President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) more time to respond to the latest developments in cross-strait relations in order to develop a consensus within his party and the nation before committing to a course of action.
Yu made the plea during the first of two days of meetings with US officials, members of Congress and others.
Yu detailed the government's opposition to the "two sides of the Strait, one country" formula proposed by People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜) and Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) after their recent meeting in Beijing.
Yu also thanked Washington for its opposition to the "Anti-Secession" Law that Beijing enacted in March, and for its opposition to the lifting of the EU arms embargo on China.
Yu arrived in Washington from New York on Wednesday evening and met with think tanks and congressmen. On Thursday he had lunch at the Taiwan-run Twin Oaks mansion, where it is believed he was joined by various administration officials and members of Congress.
In the afternoon he met with two key Senate Democrats: West Virginia's John Rockefeller, one of Taiwan's firmest allies in Congress and a founding member of the Senate Taiwan Caucus, and California's Diane Feinstein, a personal friend of ex-Chinese president Jiang Zemin (江澤民) and a leading congressional proponent of US-China relations.
Yu was yesterday expected to have breakfast with Michael Green, a leading Asia expert at the US National Security Council, and is later expected to meet with a State Department official.
After his meeting with Feinstein and Rockefeller, Yu told Taiwanese reporters that he urged the US to give Chen more time to resolve domestic disputes arising from the Anti-Secession Law and the visits to China by Soong and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).
Chen needed more time to continue his effort to reach a consensus on cross-strait issues, Yu told the congressmen.
On Chen's plan for constitutional reform, Yu said the US government and Washington-based think tanks were not overly concerned about the first phase, which will be complete when the National Assembly approves a package of constitutional amendments in the next few weeks.
In regard to the so-called second phase, which could raise more fundamental national issues, Yu said that Chen had repeatedly vowed not to include issues such as sovereignty, the national title or the national flag.
Washington should therefore "relax" and not worry about this, he said.
Regarding the "two sides of the Strait, one country" formulation, Yu noted that even the KMT, which took part in the 1992 Hong Kong meetings that it argues should be the basis of any future cross-strait talks, has said that the formulation is a step backward from the "one China" policy. He also noted that the same sentiment was expressed in recent public opinion polls.
"We hope they understand the situation," Yu said.
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