Thu, Feb 09, 2006 page1

• NSC reviews unification agency

  CROSS-STRAIT POLICY The legislative speaker said it would be good if the president could reiterate the``four noes and one without'' pledge

  • By Ko Shu-ling / STAFF REPORTER
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  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) has instructed the National Security Council (NSC) to study the feasibility of abolishing the National Unification Council and unification guidelines, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) said yesterday.

  "Whether or not to scrap the National Unification Council is an issue that the president has the authority to decide, but the abrogation of the guidelines must be approved by the Executive Yuan because they were originally given the go-ahead by the executive branch," Wang said.

  "Whether it is fitting to nullify the council and guidelines is an issue under careful study by the National Security Council," he said.

  

  President Chen Shui-bian, center, Taiwan Federation of Industry chairman Lee Cheng-chia, first left, and Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng, first right, wish participants good luck for the new lunar year during a meeting with six major industrial and commercial groups yesterday.

  PHOTO: LIU HSIN-DE, TAIPEI TIMES

  Wang made the remarks yesterday afternoon after meeting with the president at the Presidential Office to brief Chen about his attendance at the inauguration of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya and other issues.

  Wang attended Zelaya's inauguration on behalf of Chen.

  Before the meeting, Wang told reporters that "it would be great" if the Presidential Office could reiterate the "four noes and one without" pledge that Chen made in his 2000 inauguration speech in an attempt to deal with the unification council and guidelines.

  The "four noes and one without" refer to not declaring independence; not changing the title "Republic of China;" not enshrining in the Constitution former president Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) conception of cross-strait relations as "state-to-state" in nature; and not endorsing a referendum on independence.

  Wang told reporters after the meeting that Chen had instructed the NSC to study whether reiterating the "four noes and one without" vow was prudent.

  Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) said that Washington had not told Chen to reaffirm the "four noes and one without" pledge, and that he did not have the impression that the US wanted him to do so.

  "Our communication with the US government has been sincere and friendly," Huang said. "It is not as bad as the media portray, which is exactly what our opponent wants -- the media spreading information on this topic without concrete sources."

  A local Chinese-language newspaper reported that Washington has not ruled out publicly criticizing Chen during Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) US visit in April if Chen fails to restate the pledge.

  Speaking on the long-stalled arms procurement budget, Wang indicated it was not important what Chen says about the issue because the bill remains in the hands of the legislature.

  "What matters here is the opinions of the opposition parties," Wang said. "The matter will be settled via democratic means and the public, including the ruling party and the president, as well as the US government, must respect and accept the legislature's final decision."

  Wang, however, called on opposition parties to take into account China's aggressive military buildup.

  "China will not stop development of its military even if we don't buy any weapons," Wang said. "We have to acknowledge the fact that the military imbalance across the Taiwan Strait is bound to drastically increase if we don't strengthen our self-defense capabilities."

  Earlier in the day, Wang said that it did not sound right that the opposition parties would present their own arms procurement shopping list.

  The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is planning to propose its own version of the special arms-procurement bill by the end of the month after KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said he would like to see the bill resolved during the next legislative session, due to begin on Feb. 21.
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