Former foreign affairs minister to attend funeral

Control Yuan President Fredrick Chien (錢復) left for the US on Wednesday to attend the late US President Ronald Reagan's state funeral on behalf of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁).

Chien said prior to his departure for Washington that he had met with Reagan on many occasions during his stint as the Republic of China (ROC) representative to the US from 1983 to 1988.

"Reagan was a staunch supporter of our country," said Chien, a former career diplomat who served as the minister of foreign affairs from 1990 through 1996.

Reagan, 93, died last Saturday at his home in Simi Valley, California after a 10-year battle with Alzheimer's disease. The US government will hold a national funeral service for the charismatic late president at Washington National Cathedral today.

Commenting on some local observers' views that a communique signed between Beijing and Washington during Reagan's presidency that promised declining US arms sales to Taipei hurt Taiwan's interests, Chien said the so-called "communique of Aug. 17, 1982" was the "work of then-US secretary of state Alexander Haig and his subordinates at the State Department."

"Reagan once said in his memoirs that the `Aug. 17 communique' with Beijing was one of the two most dissatisfactory events during his eight-year presidency," Chien said.

As a remedy to that detrimental communique, Chien said, the Reagan administration offered Taiwan "Six Assurances" later that year, which pledged no timetable for ending arms sales to Taiwan; no prior discussions with Beijing on arms deals with Taiwan; no US mediatory role in Taipei-Beijing talks; no revision to the Taiwan Relations Act; no change to the US position on the Taiwan sovereignty issue and no pressure on Taiwan to negotiate with Beijing.

National day

Chien said Reagan became familiar with Taiwan after he visited the country in 1971 to attend the ROC's 60th National Day celebration in his capacity as California governor. He had since then supported the ROC's national cause.

"During his presidency, Reagan once said in a speech to a group of US senior high-school students that the Republic of China was one of the staunchest US allies and a democratic country. His speech drew a protest from Beijing because at that time, the US had already switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing," Chien recalled.

Chien said he received a phone call from the Presidential Office a day earlier, asking him to represent Chen at Reagan's funeral. Because of the tight schedule, Chien said his itinerary in Washington will all be arranged by the ROC representative office there.

Outgoing ROC Representative to the US Chen Chien-jen (程建仁) will also attend the state funeral as a member of the special ROC delegation to the ceremony.