The US yesterday welcomed the inauguration of Chen Shui-bian (
"We are encouraged that the new leadership in Taiwan has taken a constructive and pragmatic approach to resuming cross-strait dialogue," the White House and State Department said yesterday.
President Chen indicated that he believed the leadership of both sides of the Taiwan Strait could use creativity and wisdom to resolve the future "one China" question. China responded quickly by criticizing Chen for what it called his lack of sincerity.
However, the response from Washington to Chen's speech was positive. Reading carefully the content of Chen's speech and gauging China's reaction, David Stockwell, spokesman for the National Security Council told the Taipei Times that the US wanted to congratulate Chen and Taiwan.
"The US strongly supports such dialogues and is committed to promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region," he said.
The Clinton administration would not comment on specific elements of the speech; instead, Stockwell and a senior official in the State Department said that in general, "We are encouraged that the new leadership in Taiwan has taken the constructive and pragmatic approach to resuming cross-strait dialogue."
The State Department official also said that while the PRC had criticized aspects of Chen's speech,"they also took note of elements regarding the positive expression of cross-strait dialogue."
Stockwell emphasized that the only response from Washington to Beijing's criticism was to "urge Beijing to take the opportunity to resume dialogue with Taiwan and solve peacefully problems between the two sides." He noted that the White House has not scheduled any official to visit Beijing in the near future; however, the US did deliver a message to Beijing prior to the election in Taiwan.
Nancy Tucker, a professor at Georgetown University, said the reason why China had responded so quickly was because it must have been prepared in advance and knew very well that it should not expect too much from the speech.
Tucker anticipated that the atmosphere across the Taiwan Strait was still worrisome; however, people are not expecting China to attack Taiwan after the inauguration, and "there is a potential of positive development after Chen's inauguration."
She said that up to now, the US had been carefully monitoring Chen's statements and management. However, "the PRC does not yet trust what they have seen," said Tucker. "If Beijing remains flexible and cautious, there will be a chance to resume cross-strait dialogue."
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