American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Chairman Raymond Burghardt yesterday warned President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) not to make any decisions during the remainder of his term in office that would cause problems for his successor.
"One of the wonderful things about democracy is that when new leaders come in, the new leaders present a new opportunity -- a new opportunity to solve problems and deal with important issues," he said.
In Taiwan's case, Burghardt said a new leader would be inaugurated in May and would have a new opportunity to deal with all of the nation's regional challenges.
"And of course above all that includes relations across the Taiwan Strait," he said. "To carry on the work of the president before him and to look for new solutions. So that new president will, regardless of who it is, have to make up his mind about how to deal with those issues."
It is therefore very important, Burghardt said, for everyone involved in the Taiwan Strait issue -- Taiwan's government, the leaders in Beijing and the US -- to say and do the right things to give Taiwan's new leader that opportunity in May.
"All the comments we made in the last few months have been made in the regard of preserving that opportunity," he said.
In addition to the preservation of Taiwan's democracy, the other issue that concerns the US is Taiwan's stability, Burghardt said.
Burghardt made his remarks at a meeting with Chen at the Presidential Office yesterday afternoon. Burghardt's visit comes hot on the heels of US opposition to Taiwan's UN referendum voiced by the director of the AIT office,, Stephen Young, and US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Thomas Christensen.
Chen said that he could not predict what the new leader would do, nor would he tell him what to do, but the US government should rest assured that he would keep his promises during the remainder of his presidency.
Chen said that as a responsible leader and the first from a former opposition party, he made the "four noes and one without" pledge during his inaugural address in 2000. The pledge constitutes the core foundation of cross-strait peace, security and stability, he said.
While he bowed to US pressure and compromised on the nation's first national referendum in 2004, Chen said there was a lot more he could have done. But he refrained in the interests of stability in the Taiwan Strait and the nation's friendship with the US, he said.
Emphasizing that the referendum seeking UN membership did not violate his commitments, Chen said he could not stop the campaign as it comes from the bottom up and represents the collective will of the people of Taiwan to join the international body.
In an interview with the Associated Press after his meeting with Burghardt, Chen dismissed reports that he was planning to declare independence.
He said such reports were Chinese propaganda designed to influence US decision-making on the matter and to scare Washington into intervening in next year's elections and referendums.
Meanwhile, the AIT confirmed yesterday that Burghardt had met with Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (
The AIT refused to reveal when the meetings had taken place or what was on the agenda.
Sources said Burghardt met with Ma shortly after he arrived in Taiwan on Saturday at Ma's campaign office. Ma's running mate Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), KMT Legislator Su Chi (蘇起) also attended the meeting, they said.
"We talked for a long time, touching on a wide number of topics. The talks proceeded in a friendly atmosphere, but I can't tell you details on the basis of the principle of good faith," Su said.
Burghardt met with Minister of Foreign Affairs James Huang (黃志芳) yesterday afternoon. Huang told journalists afterwards that although Taiwan and the US had different opinions on some political issues, the overall US-Taiwan relationship remains sound.
"There is still lot of room for communication between the two sides," Huang said.
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s