US State Department officials reiterated on Tuesday Washington's support for a peaceful resolution of cross-strait disputes in a way that is acceptable to people on both sides of the Strait.
The officials were responding to remarks made by President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) on Tuesday that only the 23 million people of Taiwan have the right to decide the fate of the country and that the sovereignty of Taiwan belongs to the Taiwanese people and cannot be shared with the 1.3 billion people of China.
Christopher Hill, assistant secretary of the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said the US' policy on cross-strait issues is clear and has been stated on a number of occasions.
"We want these issues resolved by peaceful means. Within this context, our policy, which has been stated over and over again, is our commitment to the `one China' policy, our commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act and the three communiques," Hill told reporters after a House of Representatives hearing.
Also commenting on Chen's remarks during a regular press briefing, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that Washington's stance on these issues remains unchanged, noting that the department last reiterated this in public with a statement by his deputy Adam Ereli last week.
"We have made no changes to our long-standing policy aimed at promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region. The United States does not support Taiwan independence and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo by either Taiwan or Beijing," McCormack said.
"We support dialogue in the interest of achieving a peaceful resolution of cross-strait differences in a manner that is acceptable to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait," he said.
Ereli stated the policy on Jan. 30 in the wake of Chen's proposals that Taiwan should seriously consider scrapping the National Unification Council and the National Unification Guidelines and seeking to join the UN under the name of Taiwan.
Chen also proposed drafting a new constitution by the end of this year.
Ereli called Chen's speech "a surprise" and claimed that Taiwan's participation in the UN under the name of Taiwan would represent a "unilateral change to the status quo."
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