President denies divulging secrets

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday denied that he had compromised national security by giving details of Chinese ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan, stressing that the purpose of his remark was to ask all Taiwanese people to be aware of China's threat.

"These missiles of mass destruction have seriously damaged the stability of the Asia-Pacific region and put all 23 million Taiwanese under the fear of war," Chen said. "As the head of state, I must clearly tell the truth to the people of the country and repeatedly remind them to remain alert.

"However, some politicians accused me of revealing national secrets," Chen said. "I wonder which country's secrets I have revealed?"

Chen late Sunday the arsenal of Chinese missiles targeting Taiwan and the location of missile bases, saying that the military threat from China was a clear and present danger to Taiwan. He said the threat constituted the essential condition to allow him to initiate a "defensive referendum," as authorized by the recently passed Referendum Law (公民投票法).

People First Party (PFP) Legislator Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) accused Chen the following day of leaking military secrets for political reasons. Lin said that such behavior by a president warranted the death sentence.

Though DPP heavyweights have already condemned Lin for making an inappropriate accusation, Chen personally fought back yesterday.

"What I revealed were China's national secrets," Chen said.

"Those who accused me must stand on the same side with China," Chen said. "I understand that maybe they are right because China is actually their country."

Presidential Office Secretary-General Chiou Yi-jen (邱義仁) also held a press conference to further explain the president's remarks.

"The current peace of the Taiwan Strait is a `false impression' and the cross-strait relationship is apparently calm but is actually intense, which makes the nation lose its awareness," Chiou said.

"The president's idea of a defensive referendum is to rebuild everyone's awareness in facing danger from a foreign power," Chiou said. "If China demonstrates a stronger intention to take military action, the necessity of immediately launching the defensive referendum will also be increased."

Speaking the meaning of the US government's recent comments on the referendum issue, Chiou stressed that Taiwan completely understood the US stance in differentiating between an independence referendum and Taiwan independence.

"The US government clearly expressed that it opposes any referendum that changes the status quo and leads toward independence and it does not support Taiwan's independence," Chiou said.

"Those two remarks referred to different matters and showed that the US government's cross-strait policy remains unchanged," he said.

Chiou that the government has frequently communicated with officials of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) to expound Chen's thoughts.

"We have reaffirmed that Taiwan has no intention to provoke anyone and will firmly maintain President Chen's `five noes' of his inauguration speech," said Chiou, "and we believe that AIT Director Douglas Paal will express our stance to Washington."

Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮), explained to foreign journalists that article 17 of the Referendum Law -- which allows for a defensive referendum -- dealt with national security rather than independence.