Chen meets with US congressman

During his meeting yesterday with US Congressman Steve Chabot, President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) said his inauguration speech represented goodwill for reopening cross-strait dialogue.

Chen said that the content of his inauguration speech was a "window of opportunity" for the start of negotiations across the Strait.

"I hope that whatever negative reactions or intent to misinterpret my goodwill from the other side of the Strait will not affect this," Chen said.

According to a press release issued by the Presidential Office, Chen expressed gratitude to the US for supporting Taiwan's World Health Organization (WHO) bid. Chen thanked the US especially for passing bills supporting Taiwan's participation in the WHO as an observer and for voting to add the bid to the agenda of the World Health Assembly meeting in Geneva last week.

Chen asked Chabot to express his thanks to US President George W. Bush for sending US Congressman James Leach to attend the presidential inaugural ceremony on May 20 and for conveying his congratulations with a letter.

Chen also asked Chabot to continue to support a free-trade agreement between the US and Taiwan.

Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) also received Chabot at the Presidential Office yesterday.

Taiwan is a close friend of the US, and cooperation between the two nations should be increased, Chabot said. The US will continue to co-operate with Taiwan in the future, he said.

Chabot also said that the content of Chen's inaugural speech was very "appropriate," pointing out that in light of military threats from China, Taiwan needed to maintain defensive power. He added that the US had responsibilities in terms of Taiwan's defense.

According to the press release, Chabot said that the Chinese military threat has continued to grow in recent years, with the number of Chinese missiles directed at Taiwan increasing all the time.

Lu said, "Everyone talks about maintaining the status quo across the Strait, but the real question is how to define the status quo. There is often a blind spot in descriptions of the status quo -- Taiwan is already a sovereign state and as such Chinese military threats pose a threat to the peace that is Taiwan's current status quo."