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Washington OK with referendums, Chien says

Taiwan's move to hold referendums on issues other than unification or independence will carry minimal impact on trilateral ties among Washington, Beijing and Taipei, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) said yesterday.

"Our emphasis is to conduct referendums on major public issues unrelated to the unification-independence debate, so I think this will carry minimal impact on US-China-Taiwan ties," Chien said.

The foreign minister made his remarks in a press conference yesterday afternoon after returning from a 10-day visit to the US.

Chien said the US has "fully understood" Taiwan's position on the issue of referendums, although it would take a while to grasp Washington's perception of the impact of referendums on trilateral ties.

Victor Chin (秦日新), director general of the ministry's Department of North American Affairs, said US concerns over Taiwan's holding referendums resulted from Washington's misgivings over any move it thinks might trigger cross-strait tensions.

"The US said neither side of the Taiwan Strait should be involved in any kind of provocation," Chin said. "It's because of this [position] that the US has expressed its concerns."

Chin admitted that he has heard US complaints about Taipei's move to raise the referendum issue without prior consultation with Washington.

Chin's remark came as confirmation of statements made by a delegation visiting Washington regarding the US dismay that Taiwan had raised the referendum issue without consulting with Washington beforehand.

Chien said the issue of referendums was put on the table when he met with the AIT Chairwoman Therese Shaheen in New York City on Monday. But he said he has never heard anything about the US telling Taiwan that Taipei must shoulder any risks triggered by referendums.

Chien said he told Shaheen that in a democratic country, a referendum is an important way to understand public opinion.

According to Chien, the AIT chairperson said that the US would express neither support nor opposition to referendums in Taiwan, as long as the votes covered only domestic issues.

Chien said that the ministry is slated to explain the government's plans for conducting referendums to to Taipei-based diplomats next Tuesday.

The minister also confirmed reports that Washington had told Beijing to talk to Taipei directly regarding China's proposal to withdraw missiles deployed along its coastal areas in exchange for a reduction of US arms sales to Taiwan.

According to Chin, US working-level officials have passed the message to Beijing after the proposal was first raised by former Chinese President Jiang Zemin (江澤民) in his meeting with the US President George W. Bush last October.

Chin summarized the US position as saying that China's proposal to withdraw missiles targeting Taiwan should not be linked with the issue of US arms sales to Taiwan.

On the issue of arms sales from the US, Chien said he ensured Shaheen that Taiwan was determined to defend itself from China's attacks, although other factors have dragged out the arms-procurement process, making it slower than expected.

Budgetary constraints paired with tedious debates on the issue in the legislature have slowed down planned arms procurements from the US, Chien said.
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