Fri, Feb 03, 2006 page1

• `Four noes' will not change, says MOFA

  NO CRISIS The foreign minister yesterday made reassurances that the president was not altering his cross-strait stance, but merely reacting to the oppression of China

  • By Chang Yun-ping / STAFF REPORTER
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  President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) Lunar New Year remarks on abolishing the Unification Council and guidelines had nothing to do with changing the status quo in the Taiwan Strait or altering his "four noes," high-ranking government officials said yesterday.

  Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said yesterday that Chen's speech was based on worries about China's relentless suppression of Taiwan, which has caused the cross-strait political, economic and military balance to tip toward China, a worrying situation that could lead to a unilateral change of the current status quo.

  "As a national leader, the president has to pay attention to such signs and the people should understand the logic behind his Lunar New Year remarks and not take his words out of context," Huang said.

  The foreign affairs minister said yesterday that Taipei has increased communications with Washington since Chen made the speech on Sunday to convey a fuller picture to US authorities and that Taiwan's stance on the cross-strait status quo was consistent with that of the US.

  He said that there were indeed differences in Washington and Taipei's understanding of Chen's Lunar New Year remarks, but the gap was not a major one and had not caused a "crisis of trust" in US and Taiwan relations.

  Regarding the State Department's statement that Taiwan joining the UN under the name of "Taiwan" would constitute a unilateral change of the status quo, Huang said it was "too strong" for the US to use such words.

  Huang said Taiwan understands the US' reasons for reiterating its stated policy and that communications between the two sides remain smooth.

  However, Huang said, because of the fast-changing cross-strait situation and the increasing difficulties and limitations placed on Taiwan's international participation, the US may not always understand Taiwan's predicament well enough.

  Meanwhile, Mainland Affairs Council Chairman Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday explained that Chen's proposal to abolish the National Unification Council and guidelines was based on a legislative resolution passed on Jan. 12 this year to abolish all the unauthorized institutions under the Presidential Office.

  Wu said these institutions included the Constitutional Reform Office, the Youth Corps, the National Human Rights Museum Preparatory Task Force and Technological Development Consultation Advisory Board.

  "If all unauthorized organizations under the Presidential Office are to be abolished, it should imply that the National Unification Council, which is also unauthorized, should be abolished as well," Wu said.

  In addition, Wu said that the council hardly functions at all, as its annual budget currently stands at only NT$1,000 after the Legislature slashed the original NT$6 million (US$187,000) budget proposed by the Presidential Office in 2003. Since then the council's budget has remained at NT$1,000 each year and the council hasn't convened a meeting since 1999.

  "If we put the two resolutions passed by the Legislative Yuan together, one about the budget-slashing, and the other about unauthorized organizations, that means the Legislature itself wants to abolish the National Unification Council," Wu said.

  "Anyway, the president's proposal is still under review and evaluation by the National Security Council, and therefore it has nothing to do with whether or not we are intending to [change] the `four noes,'" he said.
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