We have learned of Mr. Hu Jintao's recent remarks, including those made during talks with President Bush during his trip to Australia. But, we must tell the whole world that Taiwan is definitely not a part of the People's Republic of China. Taiwan is Taiwan. China is China. Taiwan is a sovereign state. It sovereignty belongs to the 23 million people of Taiwan. Taiwan is not a second Hong Kong. Taiwan of course cannot be referred to as "China Taipei." This is not just me speaking, but the 23 million people of Taiwan.
So how can this be demonstrated concretely? If you don't believe what I say and think it is merely my own opinion, then let us have a referendum and have the world hear the voice of the people. Perhaps there will end up being a 60 or 70 percent majority opinion that comes of it, letting the whole world know about us as a country. Our territory is limited to Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu. It does not include mainland China or Mongolia. This is a historical fact and is the status quo.
President Hu Jintao was obliged to say what he has said, but for the 23 million people of Taiwan, it is completely unacceptable. Thank you.
Blumenthal: Thank you very much, Mr. President. Thank you very much to all of our panelists. Thank you very much to the audience for participating today as well. I'd also like to give a special thanks to the TECRO staff led by Joseph Wu, and our own staff led by Laura Coniff for putting together this very difficult technical experiment. And I think it went very well. Thank you very much, President Chen, for your time. You were very generous with us, and good luck to you.
[APPLAUSE]
Should discrepancies exist between the Chinese and English transcripts of the President's remarks, the Chinese version takes priority.