In response to the Presbyterian Church of Taiwan's demands that the government adhere to its promises of changing the nation's official name and writing a new constitution, Premier Frank Hsieh (
Hsieh also said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had never changed its original beliefs.
"The DPP never betrayed its original beliefs," Hsieh said at DPP headquarters yesterday afternoon before he attended the party's central executive committee meeting.
"What the government said and did was for the sake of Taiwan," Hsieh said.
Hsieh said that in his opinion, judging from the content of the US-Japan joint pact unveiled recently, the US and Japan had mistaken the Taiwanese government's support for changing the country's official name and implementing constitutional reform as an attempt to change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.
"In view of this, the government, the Cabinet, has the responsibility to clarify such misunderstandings and endeavor to improve relations between Taiwan and the US and Japan," Hsieh said.
"Given that the international communities have this misunderstanding of us, the government should behave more meticulously," Hsieh said.
However, Hsieh's interpretaion of the US and Japan's move seems to be at odds with the views of most analysts, who consider the revised security strategy inherently supportive of Taiwan.
Nonetheless, Hsieh then attempted to tie his take on the issue to the Presbyterian Church's criticism.
"Relatively, civil groups and political parties have more space to advocate these appeals," Hsieh said.
"It is unavoidable that some of the government's policies are criticized or misunderstood," Hsieh added. "The Executive Yuan will accept some friends' criticisms with a humble and open-minded attitude."
As soon as Hsieh took up the office of premier, Hsieh declared that the government would not "force to promote the movement of changing the country's official name," which was criticized by many pro-independence groups.
DPP Secretary-General Lee Yi-yang (
"The DPP's `Resolution on Taiwan's Future' (台灣前途決議文) that was established in 1999 has stipulated that Taiwan is an independent sovereign state, which is the status quo and also a fact," Lee said. "The DPP also said in the resolution that any action that might change Taiwan's future will have to be decided by referendums."
Lee added that the DPP will make a self-examination in terms of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan's straightforward criticism and will maintain interactions with Presbyterian Church and other pro-independence groups.
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