Taiwan's democratic reforms should not be interpreted as a campaign for Taiwan's independence, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mark Chen (
Chen, who is currently on a goodwill visit in the West African country of Burkina Faso, said that Taiwan is a democratic country and during the process of deepening its democracy, it is only natural that some of the past would be sloughed off. Unfortunately, even before Taiwan has taken any large steps toward enriching its democracy, some have labeled the actions as moving toward independence, Chen said, adding that such unilateral interpretations will affect how the US perceives the situation.
He said high-level communications between the US and China are smooth because the two have diplomatic relations, but Taiwan and the US have no diplomatic relations, and "communications through third parties sometimes lead to misunderstandings."
Chen was responding to a former US State Department official's speech on triangular relations between the US, China and Taiwan earlier that day in Taipei.
Randall Schriver, a former US deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, is currently in Taiwan at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Chen said that he agreed with Schriver's remarks that the US cannot continue to restrict high-level US officials from visiting Taiwan, and that the US can't afford to have a communications gap with Taiwan.
Chen said that if misunderstandings arise because of inadequate communication channels, then it will be difficult to repair damaged Taiwan-US relations.
When asked about Schriver's remarks that cross-strait relations had at one time deteriorated because of Taiwan's rising sentiment of having a separate identity, which had also affected the US' ability to have quality relations with Taiwan, Chen said this is perhaps because some reports or agencies had not fully conveyed all the information on the matter to the US, which affected the US' judgment of Taiwan's situation.
Shriver said that the US didn't know much about the Democratic Progressive Party during President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) first term, and that during elections, some of the campaign language was sent to the US out of context and affected Taiwan-US exchanges, but "now the US knows better."
Chen also said that the world attaches great importance to China's rise, saying that when he visited San Francisco and attended a seminar in Colorado sponsored by the American Enterprise Institute last month, he heard many express worry about this, believing that it is not a "peaceful emergence." China has not adopted a peaceful approach, but has expanded military expenditures and has scrambled for world energy, which some participants said has strategic significance.
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