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Ex-US officials to monitor polls

A group of former US government officials, including former secretary of defense William Perry, will visit Taiwan from Jan. 13 to Jan. 15 to assess the situation after the legislative election, which will be held in tandem with two referendums, a foreign ministry official said.

"The purpose of their visit will be to understand Taiwan's democracy, the latest developments in cross-strait relations and the political situation after the election," Leo Lee (李澄然), director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Department of North American Affairs, told a press conference yesterday.

Perry will be accompanied by the former commander-in-chief of US Pacific Command Joseph Prueher, former chief of US Central Command John Abizaid, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia Kurt Campbell, former US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill and director of the China studies program at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies David Lampton.

It has been proposed that the group, led by Stephen Orlins, president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, would constitute the core of an electoral observation mission, Lee said.

Lee said that US representatives Solomon Ortiz and Steve Chabot, both Republicans, and Eliot Engel, a Democrat, would also visit Taiwan in January.

In late 1995 and early 1996, following a decision by then US president Bill Clinton to allow former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) to visit the US and in the wake of the first direct presidential election in Taiwan, China launched a series of ballistic missile tests off the shores of Taiwan.

Perry and Prueher both played a role in Washington's strong warning to Beijing against taking rash and provocative action in its military exercises and were also involved in the decision to dispatch two aircraft carriers in the Taiwan Strait to demonstrate the US' seriousness.

In related developments, Ministry spokeswoman Phoebe Yeh (葉非比) said the ministry "regretted" recent comments the Singaporean government made concerning the planned referendums on joining the UN under the name "Taiwan."

The referendum reflects public opinion and the desire of Taiwanese to join the UN, she said.

"It has nothing to do with changing the country's name, it will not change the `status quo' in the Taiwan Strait and will not put stability at risk," she said.
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