President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday announced that the National Unification Council will "cease to function" and Guidelines for National Unification will "cease to apply," bringing an end to weeks of speculation and debate on the fate of the largely symbolic body.
Chen said his decision was based on the principle of popular sovereignty, and was prompted by China's ongoing military buildup and attempts to use "non-peaceful" means to unilaterally change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
If all goes well, Chen said, he would approve the recommendation of the National Security Council (NSC) today.
As expected, the president stopped short of using stronger language about "abolishing" the council and guidelines. But it was not clear yesterday what, if any, substantive difference was intended by the carefully chosen wording.
When questioned by reporters, government officials could offer little explanation, saying only that the words Chen used were translations of legal terms from English.
Chen made the announcement after chairing a NSC meeting. He had instructed the council to come up with a report by today on the political and legal repercussions of his proposal to do away with the unification council and guidelines.
The National Security Council proposed that the unification council should cease to function and that a budget should no longer be earmarked for it. The unification guidelines should cease to apply and the Executive Yuan will be instructed to act according to this decision, the council proposed.
Chen said that his decision did not change the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait, but instead returned sovereignty to the people of Taiwan.
"We do not intend to change the status quo, and strongly oppose the use of any non-peaceful means to unilaterally change the status quo," Chen said.
Any assumption about the country's future -- such as the council and guidelines' premise of eventual unification with China -- would deprive Taiwanese of their freedom of choice, he said.
"We do not rule out any form of future development in cross-strait relations as long as the decision is made via democratic means and by the free will of the 23 million people of Taiwan," he said.
Chen expressed gratitude to US President George W. Bush for publicly lauding Taiwan's democracy and prosperity in his speech in Kyoto, Japan, last year. Chen also expressed appreciation to the US government for saying it wished to continue cooperating with Taiwan on issues of mutual interest.
With some concerned about whether future constitutional reform would further breach the pledges he made in his first inauguration address, Chen yesterday said that any reforms must be made from the bottom up, from the outside in and from civil society, not the government.
"Constitutional reform must obtain the consent of three-fourths of the legislature and ratification of the people," he said. "Any issue of constitutional reform that strays from due constitutional proceedings is not conducive to maintaining the status quo and should be disregarded."
Chen called on Beijing to engage in direct dialogue with his administration to facilitate sound cross-strait development.
Chen also asserted the administration's resolve to enhance the nation's defenses.
NSC Secretary-General Chiou I-ren (
"On that basis, all promises remain valid, including the `four noes,'" he said.
Chiou was referring to Chen's inauguration pledges not to pursue formal independence, provided that China had no intention of using force against Taiwan.
The US was expected to respond positively to Chen's action, seeing it as an acceptable compromise between outright abolition of the council and guidelines and the need for Chen to satisfy domestic political concerns, observers in Washington say.
The State Department began preparing a response within hours of Chen announcing his decision, but at press time the statement had not yet made the rounds of officials who must sign off such statements.
The department would accept Chen's wording in exchange for a "convincing, authoritative" restating of the "four noes," a source said.
The National Unification Council
* The council was set up in 1990 by then president Lee Teng-hui as Taiwan's top policymaking body on unification with China.
* The council has been dormant since President Chen Shui-bian took office in 2000.
The Guidelines for National Unification
* The guidelines were approved by the Cabinet on Feb. 23, 1991, with the goal of establishing a "democratic, free and equitably prosperous China."
* No timetable was set for unification.
* The guidelines' principles include:
also see stories:
US officials `accept' NUC compromise
Lee backs Chen on NUC
Opposition threatens to impeach Chen over NUC
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
MISSION: The Indo-Pacific region is ‘the priority theater,’ where the task of deterrence extends across the entire region, including Taiwan, the US Pacific Fleet commander said The US Navy’s “mission of deterrence” in the Indo-Pacific theater applies to Taiwan, Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Stephen Koehler told the South China Sea Conference on Tuesday. The conference, organized by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), is an international platform for senior officials and experts from countries with security interests in the region. “The Pacific Fleet’s mission is to deter aggression across the Western Pacific, together with our allies and partners, and to prevail in combat if necessary, Koehler said in the event’s keynote speech. “That mission of deterrence applies regionwide — including the South China Sea and Taiwan,” he
UNPRECEDENTED: In addition to the approved recall motions, cases such as Ma Wen-chun’s in Nantou are still under review, while others lack enough signatures The Central Election Commission (CEC) announced yesterday that a recall vote would take place on July 26, after it approved the first batch of recall motions targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers and Hsinchu Mayor Ann Kao (高虹安). Taiwan is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of mass recall campaigns, following a civil society push that echoed a call made by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) in January to initiate signature drives aimed at unseating KMT legislators. Under the Civil Servants Election and Recall Act (公職人員選舉罷免法), Taiwanese can initiate a recall of district-elected lawmakers by collecting