US warns Chen to stick to `status quo'

The US on Monday criticized President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) Lunar New Year announcement that he plans to try to scrap the National Unification Council and the unification guidelines this year, saying that such a move would change the cross-strait "status quo."

Warning that Chen's speech could be "inflammatory or send the wrong signal," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli read a special department statement reiterating US cross-strait policy at a routine press conference.

Ereli admitted that Washington was "surprised" about Chen's announcement, and that the administration had not been consulted about it beforehand.

Ereli also said that the administration feels that an effort to join the UN under the name "Taiwan" and holding a referendum for a new constitution by next year -- two other pledges in Chen's speech -- would likewise constitute changes in the status quo.

The department statement reiterated Washington's long-standing "one China" policy as codified in the Taiwan Relations act and the three US-China joint communiques, and urged the establishment of "substantive cross-strait dialogue" and cross-strait links.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) was quoted in a CNA story yesterday saying that Taiwan has the same stance as the US in terms of maintaining the cross-strait status quo.

Lu added that Taiwan will work to improve communication between the two countries, to remove any doubt the US may have on Taiwan's position.

Knuckle-rapping

The State Department response marked the second time within a month that the US government has seen fit to issue critical commentary on Chen's speeches.

On Jan. 1, the department took issue with Chen's New Year's Day speech, especially the fact that he did not repeat the inauguration promises he made in 2000 and 2004: no declaration of independence, no change to Taiwan's formal name, no enshrining of the "state-to-state" model of cross-strait relations, no referendum on independence and no abolition of the National Unification Council.

The earlier speech appeared to raise hackles in Washington, which considered it unusually tough on China and objected to Chen's announced policy of tightening Taiwan investments and economic activities in China.

But, unlike the recent address, the US and Taiwan did consult beforehand on the New Year's Day speech, according to National Security Council Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (邱義仁), who said Taipei gave Washington a copy 30 hours beforehand.

This time, the State Department focused on the need for better Taiwan-China dialogue, along with the maintenance of the status quo, apparently fearing that the elimination of the council and the unification guidelines could undermine prospects for such talks.

"We urge both Beijing and Taipei to establish substantive cross-strait dialogue to the mutual benefit of both sides of the Strait," Ereli said, reading from the official statement.

"We support expansion of transportation and communication links across the Strait aimed at increasing political, economic, social and cultural exchanges with a view to increasing mutual understanding and diminishing the chances of miscommunication or misunderstanding," the statement added.

While the statement did not mention Chen's speech, Ereli told reporters that "we're issuing this in the wake of some comments by President Chen in Taiwan that we don't want to be inflammatory or send the wrong signal, so we thought it would be useful to reiterate US policy on the subject," a statement which he called "clear and unequivocal."