Tue, Feb 05, 2002 page3

• Chien says Bush will not sell out Taiwan

  US-SINO RELATIONS Though US President George W. Bush plans to visit China this month, he won't sacrifice Taiwan's interests, the minister of foreign affairs says

  • By Monique Chu / STAFF REPORTER
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  Facing the media's first grilling since being sworn in last week, Minister of Foreign Affairs Eugene Chien (簡又新) yesterday said the US would not sacrifice Taiwan's interests during US President George W. Bush's visit to China this month.

  "The top priority for Bush's visit to South Korea, Japan and China is on countering terrorism. ... On the issue of Taiwan, we've been informed that his visit to China would not sacrifice us," Chien told the press yesterday afternoon.

  

  PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES

  Washington's top envoy to Taiwan Richard Bush, in a talk on Jan. 28 in Taipei, assured his audience that Bush's visit to Beijing would not sacrifice Taiwan's interests.

  When asked to comment on the US-Taiwan-China triangular relations, Chien said it's in the common interest of the three parties to maintain regional peace, adding such a joint wish could be expected to create a "win-win situation for all three sides."

  Chien also vowed to reform the ministry through various measures.

  These included a "clear" classification of "confidential" information on Taiwan's foreign relations and the establishment of a "fair" system to evaluate achievement assessment of Taiwan's embassies and overseas representative offices, he said.

  "In the past, due to the lack of clear classification of the so-called `classified information,' what was indeed confidential was leaked to the press while what wasn't so confidential remained unknown to outsiders," Chien said.

  "I am sure a clear classification can ensure your access to more and more information," Chien claimed.

  The key to differentiate what is classified information and what is not is dependent upon whether the content of the information could affect the ministry's ongoing work, Chien said.

  The scientist-turned-foreign minister also said Taiwan's ongoing negotiation with countries that may establish diplomatic ties with Taipei should be classified as "extremely confidential."

  Chien said the press should avoid asking questions that go beyond the boundary of confidentiality as "some media exposure in the past have caused some troubles" for the expansion of Taipei's foreign relations.

  When whether he would continue his predecessor Tien Hung-mao's (田弘茂) unfinished negotiations with countries on possibilities of establishing diplomatic ties with Taiwan, Chien gave a direct answer.

  "Some of these are extremely confidential. I hope I can establish good interactions with the press at the beginning of my tenure. And if we continue talking about this topic, it will damage our national interest," Chien said.

  Chien said Taiwan intends to establish diplomatic relations with what he termed "stable" new friends instead of countries infected with chaotic domestic politics.

  Chien also vowed to establish what he termed "fair" methods to assess achievements of Taiwan's overseas representative offices and embassies.

  "A five-star" system would be introduced in evaluating Taiwan's representative offices in countries that don't have diplomatic ties with Taipei, while a "red, yellow, green" light system would indicate Taiwan's ties with its diplomatic allies, Chien said.

  Related details, however, require a study by the ministry's department of research and planning board, Chien said.

  Chien also said the US and Japan remained two giant countries that Taiwan should invest lots of diplomatic resources in while concurrently trying to maintain ties with its diplomatic allies.

  He also reiterated the idea of "people's diplomacy" (全民外交), vowing to integrate non-governmental resources to help with the enhancement of Taiwan's foreign relations.

  The ministry is planning President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) overseas trip this year, although the details remain pending at the current stage, he added.
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