Rice: UN Plebiscite Provocative

News Analysis

Rice: UN Plebiscite Provocative

Sources: Taipei newspapers

December 24, 2007

At the year-end press conference on December 21, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice publicly criticized the DPP-sponsored UN plebiscite as a provocative policy. This was the harshest comment made to date by an administration official so high as the US Secretary of State. Rice stated US opposition to DPP’s UN plebiscite in her opening remarks.

Rice said, “The United States remains committed to peace and security. We oppose any threat to use force and any unilateral move by either side to change the status quo. We have a One China policy and we do not support independence for Taiwan. As we have stated in recent months, we think that Taiwan's referendum to apply to the United Nations under the name "Taiwan" is a provocative policy. It unnecessarily raises tensions in the Taiwan Strait and it promises no real benefits for the people of Taiwan on the international stage. ” “That is why we oppose this referendum,” Rice added.

In fact, the DPP administration was not taken off-guard by Rice’s statement. However, her criticisms actually confirmed a widespread belief that Washington had promised Beijing to publicly voice strong US opposition to the DPP’s UN plebiscite.

While on a tour in Washington, Yang Jiechi, foreign minister of Mainland China, met with President Bush and Secretary of State Rice, respectively, and expressed Mainland China’s insistence that the US publicly oppose the DPP’s UN plebiscite. At the time, it was said that the US did not respond to Yang Jiechi’s demands at that time.

Instead, Washington officials expressed the hope that Beijing authorities be patient and not overreact. The US urged Mainland China to avoid raising cross-Strait tensions and would just wait until the new President is elected in Taiwan next March. However, Beijing expressed its apprehension that Chen Shui-bian would engage in other unexpected moves before a new President is elected. To some extent, Rice’s statement showed US agreement with Mainland China’s assessment.

On December 22, asked about Rice’s criticisms, President Chen Shui-bian replied that Taiwan did not have a provocative policy, and it was Mainland China that had made a provocative move. He explained that the DPP’s UN plebiscite was proposed solely by the people through an enthusiastic signature drive. There was no problem with the UN plebiscite; the DPP administration would continue to push forward the UN plebiscite and was confident that it would pass, Chen added.

DPP Presidential candidate Frank Hsieh also stressed that there were over 2 million people who co-sponsored the UN plebiscite. “It is impossible to suspend the plebiscite at this stage just because some people expressed opposition,” Hsieh remarked. He said that even President Chen could not stop it, adding that “it is very difficult to achieve any great feat. This UN plebiscite is a real trial of the will and confidence of the people of Taiwan.”

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