Officials clarify Chen's `proud to be Chinese' idea

Officials of the Presidential Office yesterday clarified that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) did not say that he is proud to be a Chinese (中國人).

According to the officials, Chen actually meant that he was proud to be a member of Chinese (華人) society and the translation, provided by the Government Information Office (新聞局) earlier was incorrect.

Last week, Chen took an interview with two reporters from Der Spiegel (明鏡週刊), a leading German newsweekly.

According to media reports, when being asked whether he is a Taiwanese or a Chinese at the beginning of the interview, Chen expressed that "I am a Taiwanese, and I am also a member of the Chinese society. I am proud to be a Chinese."

Officials said that the word "Chinese" is a common way to refer to someone as a member of the whole Chinese society.

"For example, people in Taiwan and Singapore are all members of the Chinese society and therefore can be called Chinese," officials explained.

Officials also said that they had already informed the Government Information Office about the mistake. "We have already asked them to correct it immediately," officials said.

According to media reports, the two reporters also asked Chen about his earlier speech, saying that unification is not necessarily the only choice for Taiwan. To answer the question, Chen said that the cross-party task force (跨黨派小組), led by Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲), is now studying all the possibilities for cross-strait relations.

"No conclusions have been made at this point," Chen said.

Chen, however, also revealed during the interview that the cross-party task force will soon conclude all the options and will provide him with clear directions and specific suggestions for Taiwan's cross-strait policies.