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Representative to US says ties stable

Whoever wins the cliffhanger 2000 US presidential election will support democratic Taiwan, Taiwan representative to the US said yesterday.

Chen Chien-jen (程建人), who returned to Taipei earlier this week for his first home consultation since taking office earlier this summer, made the remarks at a meeting of the Legislative Yuan's Foreign Affairs Committee.

Chen said that whether the Democratic Party's Al Gore or Republican George W. Bush emerges as the final victor, the incoming US administration will continue efforts to maintain peace and security in the Taiwan Strait and will also throw its weight behind democratic Taiwan.

In his report on the current state and future prospects of Taiwan-US relations, Chen said US policy on relations across the Taiwan Strait has taken shape over the past two decades, with the three Washington-Beijing joint communiques and the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA) as its guiding principles.

Moreover, he went on, US policy on cross-Taiwan Strait relations is also based on several other major elements, including the six US guarantees to Taiwan made in 1982, the Clinton administration's 1994 Taiwan policy review, President Bill Clinton's "three noes" Taiwan policy declaration made in Shanghai in 1998, the "three pillars" of US policy outlined in July 1999 -- "one China," cross-strait dialogue and peaceful solution -- and the fourth pillar twice mentioned by Clinton himself this year -- the consent of the people of Taiwan to any solution to cross-strait sovereignty disputes.

In the course of their presidential campaigns, Chen said, both Bush and Gore called for early resumption of cross-strait dialogue, peaceful settlement of cross-strait disputes, continued sales of defensive weapons to Taiwan in accordance with the TRA and the consent of the Taiwan people to a final solution to the Taiwan Strait issue.

Chen reminded lawmakers that although the Bush camp regards China as a competitor rather than a strategic partner, has voiced support for the Taiwan Security Enhancement Bill that is pending congressional approval and supports inclusion of Taiwan into the US-proposed theater missile defense (TMD) system, it remains uncertain whether Bush will really adopt those proposals if he captures the presidency.

Chen, a seasoned career diplomat, said nobody knows for sure whether a US presidential candidate will fully deliver on his campaign promises once he has secured victory.

Chen, who served as foreign minister, government spokesman and deputy representative to the US before assuming his current post, said he has had extensive contacts with both the Bush and Gore campaigns over the past few months.

Taiwan's de facto ambassador to the US assured lawmakers that the government will continue pushing the US to act as a "balancer," "stabilizer," and "promoter" in the development of cross-Taiwan Strait relations.

"We will also urge the US government to ease restrictions on high-level exchanges with Taiwan and underscore `the consent of the people of Taiwan to any resolution of the cross-strait issue' as the fourth pillar of its cross-strait policy," Chen said.

Nevertheless, he continued, the basic framework of US policy on cross-strait relations is not expected to undergo any obvious adjustments before the general international and Taiwan Strait situations see significant changes.
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