Boilerplate policy responses by diplomats are carefully crafted to mean little and offend no one, but in Taiwan's polarized political environment, anything can become controversial.
And when the standard line is the US response to proposed constitutional changes, and it is being sold by a State Department spokesperson, you can be certain that Taiwanese politicians and commentators will find something to argue about.
So it went yesterday.
At a routine press conference, US State Department spokesman Tom Casey fielded a question on President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) recent comments on constitutional re-engineering.
"Well, first of all, let me just reiterate that the United States does not support independence for Taiwan and we continue to be opposed to unilateral changes in the status quo by either side," he said.
"We also take very seriously President Chen's repeated commitments not to permit the constitutional reform process to touch on sovereignty issues, which includes territorial definition," he said. "And the fulfillment of President Chen's commitments is a test of his leadership as well as his ability to protect Taiwan's interests, its relations with others and to maintain peace and stability in the Straits [sic]."
"We know about his commitments that he's repeatedly stated on this subject, and we expect he would carry them out," Casey said.
However, some versions of the Chinese-language United Daily News (UDN) reported on their front page that Casey said "the US do not [sic] permit Taiwan to interfere with its territorial definitions."
The mistranslation touched a nerve at the Presidential Office, which called on the media to refrain from quoting remarks out of context and misleading the public.
The Presidential Office also defended the president's original remarks on constitutional engineering, saying they did not go beyond his "four promises."
"The president merely pointed out the truth and hoped the public would seriously put it into consideration," the Presidential Office said in a statement made public yesterday morning. "The remarks made by the president did not go beyond the `four noes' promise he made."
Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Spokesman Michel Lu (
He said that some newspapers had misquoted the remarks, and added that MOFA did not receive any communications from the US asking the government not to interfere with territorial designation issues in the course of constitutional reforms.
Lu said Casey clearly did not say that the US "do not permit [sic]" Taiwan to change the definitions of the country's territory.
smooth communications
Lu said that the US and Taiwan have smooth communications on all important issues, and so far MOFA has not yet received any statements from the US telling Taiwan what it should or should not do in terms of this issue.
"Changing the nation's territorial definitions in the Constitution is a domestic issue, and I think the US will not intervene in Taiwan's domestic affairs as a principle," Lu said.
no deviation
Lu said that on June 8, Chen told American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt that he would not deviate from the commitments he made in his inauguration speeches in 2000 and 2004.
Chen made a similar promise again when making a transit stop in Guam, where he met with Burghardt on Sept. 6.
Last Sunday, Chen urged the public to consider whether it was time to change the territorial definition of Taiwan when addressing a seminar organized by the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to discuss constitutional reform.
The DPP's Central Executive Committee is planning to discuss the party's draft constitutional amendments when it meets on Oct. 4. Once finalized, the draft would proceed to the DPP legislative caucus, which would then discuss it with other caucuses.
Amending the Constitution requires the consent of three-quarters of the legislature, followed by a national referendum.
Half of the electorate must approve the changes to make them valid.
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