Deputy Secretary-General to the President Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) yesterday said he was planning to visit the US along with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Kau (高英茂) in mid-January in an attempt to offer the US government more information on President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) plan to hold a referendum on March 20.
Chen yesterday signed the Referendum Law, which will go into effect tomorrow, reiterating that he will push ahead with the plan to hold a "defensive referendum" alongside the presidential election.
In an attempt to ease Taiwan's allies' concerns over Chen's referendum plan, Wu spoke to a press conference yesterday following his return from a private trip to Japan.
Wu said Japan's recent concern is a "good thing" and its gesture is manifestly aimed at handing over the pressure to Beijing.
"Beijing's efforts to bring the Taiwan issue to the world are in fact positive to our national interest because the international community gets to hear our side of the story instead of just China's one-sided story," Wu said.
"Realizing that it can no longer handle the Taiwan issue alone, Beijing is changing its diplomatic strategy by appealing to other countries," Wu said.
"China used to treat Taiwan issues as domestic affairs and forbid the interference of other countries in the matter. Now it's gradually shifting its tack and asking other countries to voice their opposition or reservations about our policies, including the referendum plan," Wu said.
"It's a good thing because the world will have the opportunity to know that we're under constant military threat from China."
While most countries opt to remain neutral, Wu said that the US and Japan responded to Beijing's importunity, but with different motives.
"The US, desperately in need of Beijing's assistance to take care of the North Korean problem, is under pressure from China," Wu said.
"Japan, on the other hand, is eager to shrug off the pressure inflicted by China following the controversy caused by two recent incidents," Wu said.
Wu was referring to the first local celebration of Japanese Emperor Akihito's birthday organized by Japan's de facto diplomatic mission in Taiwan, the Taipei Office of the Japanese Interchange Association, on Dec. 12 and the visits of former Japanese prime minister Yoshiro Mori and Japanese envoy Katsuhisa Uchida.
The birthday party irked China, which issued official protests after failing to stop the event from occurring.
Passing a message to Chen during his low-profile trip last week, Mori voiced the Japanese government's concern over the referendum plan and requested Chen carefully review the plan.
Uchida expressed a similar concern over the referendum plan and hoped that Chen would handle the referendum issue carefully during his visit to Presidential Secretary-General Chiou I-jen (
While the media described the gestures of Mori and Uchida as "unusual" and "unimaginable," Wu painted them as "no big deal." "The Japanese government's stance on cross-strait issues has always been clear, that is, they have to be resolved in a peaceful manner," he said.
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