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Pan-blues' man in Washington calls TECRO `unbalanced'

The pan-blues' new representative in Washington, Jason Yuan (袁健生), has accused the Taipei Economic and Cultural Repres-entative Office of presenting an unbalanced view of public opinion in Taiwan to the American government and said his job was to present the "mainstream" view of the Taiwanese people.

Yuan, 62, the former head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles, arrived in Washington a week ago, more than three-and-a-half-years after the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lost its official representation in Washington with President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) victory over KMT Chairman Lien Chan (連戰).

Sitting in a posh office a block from the White House, which he said the KMT-PFP Representative Office USA shares with other tenants, Yuan held his first press conference for the Taiwanese media, explaining for more than an hour and a half his plans and the reason the office was established.

Asked whether TECRO is acting as a neutral representative of Taiwanese opinion, Yuan said, "I don't think that's the case. Otherwise, why send me?"

"After three-and-a-half years, the KMT and PFP [People First Party] feel strongly they have no window here in Washington, DC."

"I have a mandate to tell people what the pan-blues think. The government should be neutral. It doesn't represent only the DPP, but the whole country," Yuan said.

His job, he said, will be to communicate with the US administration, Congress, think tanks and the media. He denied that his work will involve lobbying, describing his office as a private, non-profit educational group. He said his office will only present its opinions.

If, for instance, Congress brings up a bill to support a referendum, he "will tell congressmen what the pan-blues' position is. I think the pan-blues represent the mainstream in Taiwan, the majority of the people. So, you make you own judgment."

Regarding the timing of his arrival in Washington, Yuan noted that the KMT and PFP did not decide on a joint election ticket until last July, and it took Lien and PFP candidate James Soong (宋楚瑜) until recently to decide on a Washington representative that would reflect both their positions.

"That took time," he said.

Yuan denied that he is in Washington to position himself to take over TECRO when representative Chen Chien-jen (程建人) retires as expected shortly after the election, and in the event that the Lien-Soong ticket wins.

"I said very clearly that the pan-blues should have put a representative here a long time ago. Win or lose, they should seriously consider this office as a permanent office. I want to do that," Yuan said.

"This is my cup of tea. So I only think about that. I don't think about winning or losing because I'm not campaigning for anybody," he said.

But, he allowed, "down the road, what's going to happen, I don't know. I don't think about tomorrow. I think about today."

Yuan said that he left the Los Angeles TECO post last year after five years of service because he felt he was not given the proper authority to do the job.
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