Taipei, Feb. 18 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian said Tuesday there will be no abrupt twists or turns in relations across the Taiwan Strait during the remainder of his current four-year presidential term. "As far as cross-strait relations are concerned, there will be nothing to worry about for the next 15 months, " Chen said while meeting with a U.S. delegation which arrived in Taipei Monday for a three-day visit.
Chen assured his guests that his administration will not do anything drastic in the coming 15 months to trigger any unpredictable reactions in cross-strait relations.
Taiwan won't become a "burden" to the United States, Chen said, adding that he has outlined his top policy goals for the year in his New Year's Day speech; namely, maintaining peace and stability in cross-strait ties and boosting economic growth and implementing sweeping reforms to provide a better life for local people.
Noting that Taiwan will not add to Washington's worries, Chen said as long as mainland China doesn't bother Taiwan, his administration is unlikely to provoke it. "Taiwan absolutely won't become a burden to the United States," he stressed.
As a matter of fact, Chen said, Taiwan can be helpful to the United States in maintaining Asia-Pacific regional security and stability.
Meanwhile, Chen went on, economic security forms an integral part of regional stability. "If Taiwan becomes overly reliant on the mainland Chinese market, it would have an adverse impact on regional security. This is why we are pushing for the signing of free trade agreements with the United States, Japan and Singapore to help ensure stable economic development in the entire Asia-Pacific region, " he added.
"The Republic of China government supports U.S. efforts against terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," Chen said.
During the meeting, Chen also reaffirmed Taiwan's commitment to wiping out commercial piracy and better protecting intellectual property rights (IPR). "We'll faithfully fulfill our obligations as a member of the World Trade Organization and continue cracking down on commercial piracy and improving IPR protection," Chen said.
He told the American visitors that his administration has adopted new measures to tighten enforcement of the anti-piracy law, including forming a 200-strong police task force to crack down on piracy of optical media products, such as CDs, VCDs and DVDs. "Moreover, we have upgraded the status of our supra-ministerial anti-piracy panel to signify our determination to stamp out counterfeiting. The panel was originally led by the minister of economic affairs, but now it is headed by the premier," Chen said.
In addition, he said, the Judicial Yuan has ordered courts to speed up handling of IPR-related cases and mete out the harshest possible penalties to those involved in commercial piracy and IPR infringement.
During the meeting, Chen expressed sympathies and condolences for the crash of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia early this month and the death of seven astronauts aboard the craft. He also urged the U.S. government to support Taiwan's bid to seek representation in the World Health Organization.
The U.S. delegation was composed of three House of Representatives members -- Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), Tom Feeney (R-FL) and Eni Faleomavaige (D-American Samoa) -- and several think tank scholars, including Edwin Feulner, president of the Heritage Foundation.
Also present at the meeting were Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Michael Yin-Mao Kao and Douglas H. Paal, director of the Taipei office of the American Institute in Taiwan.