Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) yesterday expressed regret over the pressure exerted by Washington and Beijing over the president's move to cease the functions of the National Unification Council (NUC), although she said that the government could have done a better job of explaining the decision to Washington.
"The National Unification Council is like something that has gone bad in the refrigerator," Lu said, adding that she was baffled why the nation needed permission from Washington and Beijing "to get rid of it."
Lu said that she had not been involved in the decision-making process on the mothballing of the council, but thought there was much room for improvement in terms of the way the government was handling the matter.
"I can only say that I am sorry to see Beijing, Washington and other administrations make such a big fuss about such a simple issue," she said.
She described it as "a simple domestic matter that can be easily taken care of."
Lu made the remarks at a Women's Day tea party with reporters covering the Presidential Office at the Taipei Story House yesterday.
"The Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) Central Standing Committee meeting in 1990 approved the establishment of the National Unification Council under the Presidential Office," Lu said.
"If the KMT insists on keeping the NUC, I'm very curious to know whether the KMT would honor a resolution passed by the Democratic Progressive Party's Central Standing Committee to establish a referendum committee," she said.
Lu said that the international community was bound to be confused if the matter were to be politicized while being limited to debates on unification or independence.
"I'm wondering whether the government agencies concerned have failed to clearly explain to Washington why it would be very inappropriate to keep the unification council and guidelines," she said.
To clear up the confusion, Lu said, Chen might want to reiterate the importance of the Taiwanese people's right to determine their own future.
She also emphasized that cross-strait development must be made under the "four principles" of equality, peace, democracy and sovereignty set down by Chen.
Lu yesterday spent the morning looking at exhibits at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum.
During the occasion, Lu told reporters three tales relating to March 8, Women's Day.
On March 8, 1910, she said, the concept of "equal remuneration for men and women for work of equal value" was first introduced at an international women's convention in Copenhagen.
On March 8, 1947, troops dispatched by the KMT arrived in Keelung and began the bloody crackdown which later became known as the 228 Incident.
And on March 8, 1996, she said, China began an eight-day live-fire drill in the Taiwan Strait to intimidate Taiwanese voters who for the first time had the right to elect their head of state.
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