United States won’t recognize ‘Taiwan'

Thomas Christensen, deputy assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the U.S. sees Taiwan’s claims of statehood and President Chen Shui-bian’s proposed referendum on the U.N. bid as “needlessly provocative actions.”

“While U.S. opposition to Chinese coercion of Taiwan is beyond question, we do not recognize Taiwan as an independent state and we do not accept the argument that provocative assertions of Taiwan independence are in any way conducive to maintenance of the status quo or peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” Christensen said.

He was addressing the Defense Industry Conference organized by the U.S.-Taiwan Business Council in Annapolis, Maryland on the topic, “A Strong and Moderate Taiwan.”

Dismissing as unfounded a Taiwanese claim that the United States “coordinates its Taiwan policy with Beijing,” Christensen said the United States “defines its own interests and interprets East Asian regional developments for it.”

He said Taiwan’s security is “inextricably linked” to the avoidance of “needlessly provocative behavior,” given Beijing’s threat to use force against the island.

“This does not mean that Taipei should or can be passive in the face of PRC pressure. But it means that responsible leadership in Taipei has to anticipate potential Chinese red lines and reactions and avoid unnecessary and unproductive provocations,” he said.

Taipei is bidding to join the United Nations under the name “Taiwan” this year for the first time and is planning to hold a referendum on the bid alongside the 2008 presidential election.

Disagreeing with the U.S. view that the U.N. bid referendum constitutes a step toward independence, officials in the Chen administration have described Taiwan as an independent sovereign state that has no need to declare independence.

Christensen said the United States “is not opposed to referendums,” but the referendum being promoted by Chen concerns the U.S. government “considerably more than would a generic referendum on applying to the United Nations.”

He noted that the draft referendum on applying to the United Nations under the name Taiwan “raises the question of what Taiwan should be called in the international community,” in what could be a “legally-binding popular vote.”

“It is the apparent pursuit of name change in the referendum, therefore, that makes the initiative appear to us to be a step intended to change the status quo,” Christensen said.

He said the United States has “exhausted every private opportunity through consistent, unmistakable and authoritative messages over an extended period of time” and has found itself “with no alternative but to express our views directly to the Taiwan people.”

He dismissed as “purely legalistic” arguments by the Chen administration that the referendum, even if passed, would not amount to a pursuit of name change, saying that such arguments seem to overlook Taiwan’s commitments to the United States.

“In the world of cross-strait relations, political symbolism matters, and disagreements over it could be the source of major tensions or even conflict,” Christensen said.

“President Chen recognized the importance of such ‘symbolic’ issues in 2000 and 2004 when he promised our president and the international community not to pursue a change in Taiwan’s official name, and he has reaffirmed that promise repeatedly,” he added.

Christensen further rejected the accusation that the United States is meddling in Taiwan’s democracy by opposing the referendum, pointing out that the United States has for decades been committed to supporting Taiwan’s security and democratization.

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