US Congress members defend Chen

Thomas Tancredo, a leading congressional supporter of Taiwan, pointed out that Congress some years ago enacted a law that explicitly authorizes Chen and other high-ranking Taiwanese leaders to visit the US, and that subsequent resolutions supported that position.

He said the administration should have used that law in explaining to Beijing why it offered a better transit arrangement to Chen.

Tancredo accused the administration of "snubbing" Chen by first not granting him a transit visa until the last minute and then limiting him to a brief stopover in Anchorage or Honolulu.

He also said that Chen's "five-noes" pledge was predicated on China's not using force "or the threat of force" against Taiwan.

"And then China passed the `Anti-Secession' Law, which did exactly that: it said that it would use force," Tancredo said, defending the reasoning behind Chen's decision on the National Unification Council.

Interpretation

In response, Zoellick said that he interpreted Chen's inaugural pledge as meaning that the "five noes" would apply as long as China "doesn't use force to attack," adding that "China hasn't used force to attack."

He downplayed the effect of the Anti-Secession Law, saying only that it was "not a wise step."

At one point during the hearing, Zoellick said that a "colleague" of his met with Chen in Costa Rica just as the president was leaving and "talked about how we [the US] can continue to have a strong and good relationship with Taiwan."

The State Department refused to identify the "colleague."

In Taipei, legislators across party lines reacted strongly yesterday to Zoellick's remark that "Taiwanese independence means war."

Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator John Chiang (蔣孝嚴) said the government had to face up squarely to what Zoellick had said.

Chiang urged the government to consider Zoellick's remarks as a stringent caution for advancing Taiwanese independence and to take them seriously.

Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Lin Cho-shui (林濁水) demanded Chen should earnestly review the matter of the transit arrangements after his return.

Lin said Chen's past rash advances in pushing the issue of Taiwanese independence had made the goal of "de jure independence" even more difficult to achieve.

Meanwhile, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Michel Lu (呂慶龍) declined to comment on Zoellick's remarks.

He also would not comment on what was said by American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young in a speech to the American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei, during which Young quoted Zoellick's remarks about the dangers of Taiwanese independence.

Additional reporting by Shih Hsiu-chuan