After adding the word "Taiwan" to ROC passports, Taiwan was more guarded yesterday over plans to rename its representative offices abroad, saying any such move carried no intention to provoke China, despite Beijing's fierce reaction to the move.
"We have no intention to provoke," said Katharine Chang (張小月), a spokesperson at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, of the ministry's ongoing study of the feasibility of renaming Taiwan's overseas offices.
Chang said that while US President George W. Bush -- during his recent visit to China -- urged both Taipei and Beijing not to conduct any act of provocation, the ministry's ongoing project should not be interpreted as such.
Citing three related surveys conducted by the ministry in August 2000 and in July and November last year, Chang said over 70 percent of respondents in each of the polls said they favored "Taiwan" over "Taipei" for the offices in places where the ROC, Taiwan's official name, is not allowed due to lack of diplomatic recognition.
Chang said on Sunday that the ministry would evaluate the possibility of turning the suggestion into action, a move that was simply a response to public opinion.
"If we were to rename these representative offices, the first priority would be to call them `ROC.' If that's not feasible, then we'll probe other possibilities. And we won't exclude the possibility of using `Taiwan,'" Chang said.
The ministry would take into consideration various factors, including international practices, cross-strait relations, as well as the opinions of the respective countries in question, when forging a final decision on the move, Chang said.
But Chang's counterpart in China, Kong Quan (
"It can only increase the tension between the two sides, and they will `pay for it,'" Kong said, using a Chinese phrase which directly translated means "eat one's own bitter fruit (
Kong also said that renaming the offices -- especially if the name was to reflect a separate identity for Taiwan -- would amount to "incremental independence."
"It will meet with the opposition of the Chinese people if [Taiwan is] bent on incremental independence," Kong said in a press conference in Beijing.
Kong also said China would call on countries that have diplomatic ties with Beijing to block moves by Taiwan to rename its representative offices in these countries.
During the period of KMT rule, the name "Taiwan" was seen by the government as a symbol of independence from China and was excluded as a possible name for Taiwan's embassies and representative offices.
But as times have changed, more and more people have embraced the idea of using the name "Taiwan."
The DPP government under President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) announced last month that the word "Taiwan" in Roman script would be added to the covers of Taiwan's passports, which carry the name "ROC."
China then attacked Taiwan's passport reform as a move toward Taiwan independence.
Meanwhile, Premier Yu Shyi-kun said yesterday that if the ROC were to apply to rejoin the UN under the name "Taiwan," a national consensus on such a move would be necessary.
Yu made the statement during a general interpellation session at the Legislative Yuan.
He said because Taiwan's diplomatic allies in the UN are few in number, any of Taipei's attempts to rejoin the UN under its official name ROC would be "difficult."
And if using "ROC" for Taipei's UN bid proved to be unfeasible, then his government would consider using another name such as "Taiwan" if there were a widespread consensus in society, Yu added.
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