Chen honors former AIT chairman Richard Bush

This week's meeting between US President George W. Bush and his Chinese counterpart Jiang Zemin (江澤民) will not have any adverse impact on Taiwan, the former chairman of the American Institute in Taiwan said yesterday.

Richard Bush made the remarks during a meeting with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Jiang is scheduled to visit the US this week for his third summit meeting with President Bush in 12 months.

Richard Bush told Chen that although he no longer works in the US government, he still knows for sure that the Bush-Jiang tete-a-tete Friday at Bush's Texas ranch will not have any negative impact on Taiwan's interests.

He went on to point out that the longstanding cordial US-Taiwan relations have not only reflected the shared values and interests of the two countries but have also contributed to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait area.

Over the past couple of years, Richard Bush said, US-Taiwan relations have seen a tremendous improvement through the concerted efforts of both sides.

"I feel honored to be able to make a bit personal contribution in this process, " he said, adding that he is convinced that US-Taiwan ties will continue to grow in the future.

Richard Bush, now head of the Asia-Pacific department at the Brookings Institution -- a private think tank in Washington, arrived in Taipei on Saturday for a visit.

Chen decorated Bush with the Order of Brilliant Star with Grand Cordon in recognition of his contributions toward the promotion of substantive Taiwan-US relations during his AIT stint.

AIT Taipei Office Director Douglas Paal and many senior officials, including Secretary-General to the President Chen Shih-meng (陳師孟) and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (高英茂) were also present at the ceremony.

Chen said Bush's contribution to Taiwan's democratization dates from the 1980s when he was an aide of former congressman Stephen J. Solarz.

"At that time, Bush forecast that Taiwan would be able to become a full democracy and that a democratic Taiwan would receive even more US recognition and support," Chen recalled.

"Just as Bush foresaw, Taiwan held direct presidential elections in 1996 and 2000, respectively, and even completed a historic peaceful transfer of power between different political parties in 2000," he said.

Chen said Bush contributed much to the upgrading of Taiwan-US ties during his AIT tenure from 1997 through this summer, including convincing the Clinton administration to make "the consent of the people of Taiwan" a critical element in any peaceful solution to cross-strait issues and largely improving the treatment toward Taiwan's senior officials during their transit visits to the US.

Richard Bush said the decoration was a big honor.

"I'm happy to be able to bear witness to Taiwan's democratic development over the past two decades," he said, adding that he believes the people of Taiwan will make a wise and pragmatic decision on the nation's future through their democratic system.