talk.politics.china

Published on Taipei Times
/News/taiwan/archives/2007/09/18/2003379293

INTERVIEW: Koo hopes to reassure Americans

AD CAMPAIGN: : The former senior presidential adviser said the US was
wrong to view the DPP's referendum on a UN bid as an effort to change
the country's name

By Ko Shu-ling
STAFF REPORTER
Tuesday, Sep 18, 2007, Page 3

/News/taiwan/photo/2007/09/18/2005074166
Former senior presidential adviser Koo Kwang-ming gestures during an
interview with the Taipei Times yesterday.
PHOTO: HUANG TAI-LIN, TAIPEI TIMES

Frustrated by communication problems with the US government over
Taiwan's UN membership bid, former senior presidential adviser Koo
Kwang-ming (¹¼Œ’Ãô) decided to appeal directly to the American public by
placing ads in the New York Times and the Washington Post today.

With a headline that reads "Don't put Taiwan's democracy and freedom
back into a box," the ad calls on Americans and their representatives to
pressure the US government and the UN to help Taiwan join the
international body.

"As God and the American people are our witnesses: we will not be
defeated," Koo says in the ad. "Taiwan shall overcome. The constant
bullying by the Chinese to deny our identity only hardened our resolve
to fight for independence and international recognition."

In an interview with the Taipei Times yesterday, Koo said that the US'
opposition to Taiwan's UN campaign did not make sense because a majority
of Taiwanese supported the initiative.

He said he was afraid that anti-US sentiment would strengthen if
President Chen Shui-bian (êË®±â) bowed to US pressure and dropped the
referendum proposal.

"I do not want to see anti-US sentiment arise in Taiwan, but I'm afraid
US opposition to the campaign has contributed to the phenomenon," he said.

A poll conducted by the Taiwan Thinktank earlier this month showed that
the popularity of the US in the eyes of Taiwanese had declined by 15
percent over the past year, dropping from 32 percent one year ago to 17
percent.

While US officials have argued that Taiwan's UN membership bid would
amount to changing the country's name and violating the "four noes"
pledge Chen made in his first inauguration address in 2000, Koo said
that Chen was, as the head of state, obliged to break any promise he
deemed to run counter to the national interest.

Koo criticized the US for describing the referendum as a "frontal
assault with no hope of changing Taiwan's actual status on the
international stage, while increasing cross-strait tensions and
alienating potential supporters of Taiwan's increased international space."

"Referendums are Taiwan's internal affair. The US' opposition only
pleases China and will never win the support of the international
community," Koo said.

While the US was worried that the referendum might provoke Beijing, Koo
said that it was unlikely China would attack Taiwan in the next five to
10 years as it was preoccupied with building its economic and political
might to become a dominant force in the region.

Koo said he could accept the US argument that Taiwan's status was an
undecided issue but found it unacceptable that Taiwan is not considered
a state. He said he recognized that many problems still need to be
addressed.

Dismissing US criticism that the referendum was an election ploy, Koo
said that he would like to know whether referendums held in the US
simultaneously with elections are just election ploys.

Koo said the 1972 US-China Shanghai Communique was "the beginning of a
mistake."

He said he appreciated the US for making efforts to protect peace and
security in the Taiwan Strait but warned that it could easily cancel the
Taiwan Relations Act without consulting Taiwan.

Koo also expressed disappointment with Washington's "one China" policy,
saying that his calls for a re-examination of the flawed strategy over
the years have fallen on deaf ears.

He urged Japan to play a decisive role in Taiwan's UN bid by taking
advantage of the US-Japan two-plus-two minister's dialogue framework to
help Taiwan.

Although Koo said that he realized Chen's frustration over the lack of
official communication channels with the US, the president should have
discussed the new approach to join the UN with Washington to prevent
strong opposition.

"The problem here is not lack of communications but indifference to
them," he said, adding that the same thing happened when Chen was
determined to abolish the National Unification Council and National
Unification Guidelines last year.

Koo also criticized former president Lee Teng-hui (ÀîµÇÝx) for saying
that Taiwan doesn't have the qualifications needed to be a UN member
because its legal status is undetermined.

Koo said he was very disappointed Lee failed to resolve the problem
during his presidency.

While Lee urged Chen to leave the UN campaign to whoever succeeds him
next March, Koo said the responsibility was on Chen's shoulders as long
as he was president.
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