The US has sent its congratulations on Taiwan's presidential election and has urged people here to remain calm in the face of a pan-blue challenge to the election results.
American Institute in Taiwan Director Douglas Paal met with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in the Presidential Office yesterday, but neither side issued statements on the meeting. Paal also met separately with defeated Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Lien Chan (連戰).
Speculation was that Paal's meeting with Chen and Lien was to convey the US government's concern over the potential social turmoil that could be triggered by Chen's narrow victory and the pan-blue camp's legal challenge of the election result.
In its first reaction to the election, the State Department issued a statement that reflected concern over reports reaching Washington of the possibility of violence in the wake of the election.
"We are aware that the pan-blue alliance has raised questions about the results," the statement said.
"We are confident that both sides and their supporters will remain calm, and that they will use the established legal mechanisms to resolve any questions about the election results," it said.
The statement had been expected soon after the results were announced. It was delayed, however, in view of the charges by Lien that the election was unfair and should be nullified, and by the blue camp's legal challenge to the vote.
The department congratulated the people of Taiwan "for having conducted a democratic election campaign and for having exercised their democratic voting rights in such large numbers."
In Taipei, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (
Kau said he plans to travel to Washington in the coming weeks to explain the election results and the referendum vote to think tanks and others. He will also talk with Bush administration officials.
Regarding Washington's statement about the election and its earlier statement on the assassination attempt on Chen and Vice President Annette Lu (
He said that over the past two weeks, "there has been a considerable improvement" in relations between Washington and Taipei over the referendum, as "Washington understood our motives better."
He noted the Bush administration had changed its tone from earlier statements in which it objected to the referendum, citing fears it was an attempt to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been in communication with Washington and the American Institute in Taiwan all the time," in recent weeks, he said.
"Washington seems to appreciate our intentions. We are not trouble-making. We are trying to preserve the status quo by using the referendum," he said.
"China has the weapons of missiles to threaten us. But now we have the weapon of referendums to be in place. We don't want to use it," he said.
Nevertheless, the referendum could still be an issue between both sides, Kau cautioned.
"We still have to be very careful in handling the referendum issue, because traditionally many leaders in the United States tend to maintain a position that any referendum is either identified as Taiwan independence or a move to Taiwan independence. So they are very cautious."
On Saturday night, Chen Chien-jen (
"The [US] government has been observing the election very carefully," Chen said after the unofficial election returns were announced.
Chen Chien-jen, the representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Relations Office, dismissed reports that Washington may rethink its Taiwan policy in the wake of Chen Shui-bian's re-election.
"I have not heard of changes being made. I think that we have a strong relationship between Taiwan and the United States and even with the Chen administration we are working together to know each other's interests and concerns," he said in a telephone interview from Washington.
"So what we have to do is continue strengthening our relations by having more dialogues and trying to avoid surprises. I think the relations between the United States and Taiwan will continue to grow," he said.
While there have been differences of opinions between both sides, Washington "respects that [many of] these are domestic matters, and they try to avoid getting involved," he said.
"But sometimes, based on US national interests, sometimes they express their views," Chen Chien-jen noted.
Commenting on the failure of the referendum, he said the majority of Taiwanese still want a stronger defense and they "would like to have a dialogue with the PRC. And these things are the main steps that I would like to see happen."
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