Wed, Jan 07, 2004 page3

• Chen tells US delegation he will not sway

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) yesterday said that Chinese interference will not stop him from going ahead with a planned national referendum.

  "To criticize our efforts to pursue the universal value of democracy and peace again proves that Beijing is the real trouble-maker," Chen told visiting members of a US think tank at the Presidential Office.

  "The crucial problem of the cross-strait issue is Beijing's insistence on the `one China' principle, while the US government has the `one China' policy and Taiwan defines `one China' as an `issue,'" Chen said.

  "If Beijing insists that `one China' is a precondition, then it is difficult for both sides to sit down and talk," the president said. "If `one China' is just an issue, then we can discuss it, and even set it aside to focus on economic and trade subjects."

  Chen was meeting with a delegation from the National Committee on US-China Relations, which is regarded as a "red-team," or pro-China, think tank.

  Opposition parties described on Monday this delegation as Washington's unofficial channel of communication to Taiwan and claimed that the delegation was set to deliver the US government's opposition to Chen's referendum plan.

  Chen yesterday asked the US visitors three questions: Were they coming to oppose the referendum; did they shoulder any political mission; and were they representing the US government to deliver any message?

  Head of the delegation, J. Stapleton Roy -- former US ambassador in Beijing -- replied that they were not the US government's special envoys and were here to collect information and to further understand the president's idea.

  Roy said that "regarding US-Taiwan relationships, the committee's stand tallies with that of the US government."

  "The US consistently supports Taiwan's democratization and will never interfere in Taiwan's democracy," Roy said.

  Chen also said that his call for a new constitution and the country's first ever "national referendum" would both achieve and deepen democracy.

  "The passage of the Referendum Law was the first step to consolidating Taiwan's democracy," Chen said. "My idea of holding a `peaceful referendum' has no relation with independence and does not violate my `five noes' promise."

  "Facing Beijing's threats, the people of Taiwan have the right to say `no' to China," Chen said.
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