President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) successful attempt to scrap the National Unification Council (NUC) will continue to have a negative impact on US-Taiwan relations, at least in the near term, observers in Washington said. But the impact was manageable and may not hurt long-term relations between Washington and Taipei if Chen plays his cards right, they said.
The language chosen by Chen in scrapping the council and the unification guidelines was nominally welcomed by the Bush administration, but was not enough to put the issue to bed, observers in Washington said.
"I don't think its over," Taiwan's representative in the US David Lee (李大維) told the Taipei Times in an interview on Wednesday.
"I think we have narrowed the gap and we have reached some sort of agreement." he said. "But we still need to make further moves in Taipei, and also to work harder in Washington [to end the gulf that the NUC episode created]," he said.
Lee's assessment came after four weeks of US-Taiwan tensions that marked the darkest days in that relationship since US President George W. Bush publicly chastised Chen in the presence of Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (
Nevertheless, after four weeks, Washington and Taipei reached an agreement on a way to end the impasse.
"There were no easy discussions," Lee said. "There was a gap in the beginning from both Taipei and here in Washington. Both sides saw the need that we had to resolve these differences."
"And I think that was the crucial point. It was dragging on for four weeks, so both sides decided that it should be concluded," he said.
In exchange for Chen withdrawing his plan to "abolish" the unification council and guidelines, the US would press again for China to agree to talks with the Chen government without preconditions to resolve cross-strait differences.
"I think the US side is working hard on that," Lee said.
However, differences and distrust between Taiwan and the US would continue, he said.
"The gap has been narrowed, and I think we continue to need to work harder," he said.
Would tensions dissipate?
"It depends on how we are going to manage it. Both sides must make more effort to ensure that the gap will not become wider in the days and months ahead," Lee said.
His comments reflect other opinions voiced in recent days as a result of the unification council episode. Some observers in Washington who generally support Chen and the Democratic Progressive Party's objectives have become critical of him and the way he handled the affair.
Some suspect that Chen's actions were intended to bolster his personal image and create a better legacy in the wake of several recent failures.
Observers cited the devastating losses in last year's local elections, the failure to break the impasse over the purchase of US weapons and the lack of progress in cross-strait relations. Several observers felt his action on the NUC and guidelines hurt Taiwan's image internationally when he should have been capitalizing on China's public relations gaffes, such as the passage of the "Anti-Secession" Law that codified military actions against Taiwan and the continued buildup of missiles opposite the nation.
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