The following is an abridged transcript from President Chen Shui-bian's interview with Keiko Chino, Yoshiro Toriumi and Horoto Hasegawa of the Sankei Shimbun, a Japanese newspaper. The interview was conducted on April 27 and the article was published on April 28. The following text was translated from the Chinese transcript of the interview. To view the Chinese version, visit the official website of the Office of the President at: http://www.president.gov.tw/php-bin/prez/shownews.php4?_section=3&_recNo=10
Q1: Mr. President, how did you evaluate the Bush-Hu Meeting? Did the contents of the Bush-Hu Meeting go beyond Taiwan's expectation?
President: While the United States of America symbolizes democracy, liberty, and openness, China personifies a dictatorial and authoritarian regime. To evaluate the Bush-Hu Meeting from a higher point of view, I believe that, through the meeting, President Bush wished to bridge a gap—the gap of differences in political systems and lifestyles between the United States and China.
[...] Apparently, through their meeting, President Bush wished China and President Hu Jintao to look eastward. By looking eastward, China can see the dawn of democracy, freedom, human rights, peace, and free-market economy; to look eastward, China can see the democracies of Taiwan and Japan before it finally sees the democracy of the United States. In this perspective, we can say that the Bush-Hu Meeting was successful.
There were no surprises in regards to the Taiwan issue. We are grateful to President Bush and the US government for not yielding to Chinese pressure. The Chinese Communist Party-Kuomintang (CCP-KMT) Forum or the so-called Lien-Hu Talks did not become the focus of the Bush-Hu Meeting.
[...] We noticed that while in his Oval Office, President Bush said to President Hu that he wished China would engage in direct discussions with Taiwan's elected government. Thus, we again thank President Bush and his administration for their firm support and friendliness to Taiwan. Therefore, on behalf of the government and the people of Taiwan, I am vowing again that I will keep all my promises and guarantees to President Bush and the US government and that we will do our best to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and defend Taiwan's democracy, freedom, and human rights.
Q2: You just mentioned the Lien-Hu Talks. Compared to its past, the KMT now seems to place more emphasis on diplomacy, which includes the Lien-Hu Talks and KMT Chairman Ma's recent visit to the United States. How do you and your government view the KMT's endeavor in diplomacy? In strategy, does your DPP government effectively implement your policies toward the United States and China?
President: Taiwan has been in a difficult diplomatic situation. There are only twenty-five countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan. We therefore highly encourage political parties and city governments to engage in international exchanges that would benefit our national diplomacy.
Therefore, after KMT Chairman Ma returned from his visit to the United States, I met with him in the Office of the President and openly acknowledged and thanked him for what he had done. KMT Chairman Ma had spoken up for Taiwan, urged the Chinese leaders to talk directly with Taiwan's elected government, and asked the United States to consider signing a Taiwan-US Free Trade Agreement.
However, diplomatic activities conducted by political parties should not marginalize, localize Taiwan or deny the legitimacy of the government and sovereignty of Taiwan. We would have considered former KMT Chairman Lien Chan's visit to China appropriate if he had insisted Taiwan's sovereignty and national interests when he met with President Hu.
[...] Taiwan's policies toward China are firm and clear: (1) regarding sovereignty, Taiwan is neither a province of the People's Republic of China nor a local authority or a special district, but a sovereign country; (2) regarding democracy, Taiwanese people's free will must be respected in regards to Taiwan's future and the cross-strait relations; "unification" cannot be the only option; (3) regarding peace, any cross-strait disputes and disagreements should be peacefully solved by peace talks and should not resort to any violent or non-peaceful measures; (4) regarding equality, both sides of the Taiwan Strait should begin government-to-government contacts, dialogues, and negotiations on the basis of the conclusions reached at the "1992 Hong Kong Talks." Taiwan's government and its power cannot be represented by party-to-party exchanges and contacts.
Q3: You also mentioned "Taiwan consciousness" in this year's New Year speech. Why was the term, "Taiwan consciousness," reiterated?
President: As the head of the government and of the country, I have to lead the 23 million people of Taiwan to do the right thing and to walk on a right path. It will be extremely dangerous if we do not see our country as our first priority, and hence do not identify with the land.
[...] Taiwan is unique, in that while China threatens annexing Taiwan by the use of force, Taiwan still overtly depends on China economically. We therefore must be very cautious.
We must insist that Taiwan's economy is sovereign from China. Thus, in regards to cross-strait economy and trade, I have proposed the "Proactive Management and Effective Liberalization" policy in order to minimize any possible risks. This, I believe is the unavoidable responsibility of the government.
Q4: While most people are skeptical about Taiwan's independence, when will you, Mr. President, put the constitutional amendment to referendum? Will the constitutional amendment include change to the national title and flag?
President: In our amendment of the constitution on June 7, 2005, we abolished the National Assembly and included into the constitution the mechanism of referendum. From then on, any amendments passed by the Legislative Yuan must be finally approved by the 23 million people of Taiwan. Therefore, any constitutional amendments must abide by the following process: (1) any proposed amendments must be approved by a three-fourths vote in the Legislative Yuan; (2) in the following referendum, at least 50% of the eligible electors must vote for the amendment. [...] Taiwan is a democratic country, in which constitutional amendments are possible only if they observe the due process of law and if the social conditions are ripe enough.
Q5: The relations between the US and Taiwan, between Japan and Taiwan, and between Japan and the US are vitally important. Mr. President, what's your comment on the current US military redeployment?
President: [...] Both the military reports made by the US and Japan have indicated that the balance of military power in the Taiwan Strait has tipped to the side of China. However, I am convinced that the US adjustment of its global military strategy and its military deployment in Asia is aimed at maintaining peace in the Taiwan Straits and stability in the Asian Pacific region. This is apparent, as the US-Japan Consultative Committee for the first time last year listed the Taiwan Strait as a "common strategic objective" and the US and Japan opposed the EU's proposal to remove the union's arms embargo against China. The common goals between Japan, the United States, and Taiwan lie in preserving peace, security, and stability in the Asian Pacific region. I do believe that the three countries have formed the best security alliance.
Q6: This is a hypothetical question. Is it possible to have the People's Republic of China politically compromised and therefore recognize Taiwan as a de facto independent sovereign country?
President: It would be possible only if China amended its constitution. Otherwise it will neither recognize Taiwan as a sovereign country nor respect the fact that the Republic of China is in Taiwan. The 23 million people of Taiwan may accept unification as the ultimate goal only if the Chinese Communist Party gives up its authoritarian regime and starts to implement a democratic system that respects freedom, human rights and peace. [...]
Q7: May 20 will be the 6th anniversary of your presidency. Mr. President, how do you grade your performance?
President: I cannot grade myself. I hope you all give the government and me more comments. Since the transfer of power took place in 2000, to the time I was re-elected as the president in 2004, the people of Taiwan have placed a tremendous amount of expectation on the government and me. Though I have to admit that we are not perfect, there are still achievements our country should be proud of. First, while financial reforms are perceived as impossible by many countries, we, however, have successfully completed phase-one reform since the end of last year. Second, the International Institute for Management and Development (IMD) ranked Taiwan's overall competitiveness for 2005 11th place in the world, which is a remarkable progress from 17th in 2000. The World Economic Forum (WEF), on the other hand, ranked Taiwan's growth competitiveness for 2005 5th in the world, compared to the 10th place in 2000. Also, Taiwan's information technology (IT) competitiveness for 2005 was ranked by the WEF seventh in the world and second in Asia. To sum up, in the past six years we have protected Taiwan's peace, democracy, and dignity while also achieving economic success, all of which we should be extremely proud of.