Tue, Jan 20, 2004 page3

• Presidential Office denies use of any secret envoys

  MYSTERY MISSIVE President Chen Shui-bian's display of a note sent to him before his inauguration has raised questions about the use of couriers to and from China

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  The Presidential Office yesterday denied that there have been any secret envoys between President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) administration and China, stressing that Chen is willing to listen to messages from the other side of the Taiwan Strait even though Beijing has repeatedly ignored his goodwill efforts.

  "President Chen showed a note (a message from a top Chinese official) during a live TV interview on Sunday to let the people of Taiwan know that he was sincere about being willing to react to Beijing leaders," said Presidential Office spokesman James Huang (黃志芳).

  "However, Beijing has repeatedly ignored President Chen's goodwill and would rather choose to increase [its] military threats against Taiwan," Huang said.

  In the interview on Formosa TV, Chen reaffirmed that his administration had tried to improve cross-strait relations ever since he was elected.

  He took out a note from a pocket and said that it was a message from an influential Chinese political figure which had been passed onto him by a very important Taiwanese.

  Chen then read the note aloud. It said the writer hoped Chen would promise in his inauguration speech to deal with the "one China" issue.

  Chen did make such a commitment in his speech, saying, "We believe that the leaders on both sides possess enough wisdom and creativity to jointly deal with the question of a future `one China.'"

  Opposition politicians attacked Chen yesterday, accusing him of betraying the country.

  They called upon the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) to say who the writer of the note was and whether there have been secret envoys to Beijing during Chen's term in office.

  The Presidential Office said message and the issue of secret envoys were totally different.

  "The message was delivered before President Chen was inaugurated on May 20, 2000. Since taking office, President Chen has never authorized any person to negotiate with representatives from the other side in Taiwan, China or any other third place," Huang said.

  "We understand that there have been some business leaders, academics and even some elected representatives shuttling between two sides of the Strait during past three years and therefore some messages have been delivered through their interactions. But such persons, who tried to give us messages [upon their return] were not representing [themselves] as the government's secret envoys," he said.

  "The president just wanted to tell the public that he had received a message from Beijing and that he had showed sincerity and effort in reacting to that message," Huang said.

  Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) told reporters yesterday that she had not known about the note before Chen displayed it during the TV interview. She said she could not comment on the issue.

  Lu, however, urged the media and the public to focus on China's actions over the next few weeks rather than on old notes.

  She said the people should also be aware of outside pressure from China, which is going all-out to affect the presidential election.

  "For example, China may add a new article to its Constitution to define Taiwan's referendum as an illegal movement," Lu said.
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