Bush refers to Taiwan as a country, baffles China

? BEIJING (Reuters) - China has asked the United States for an explanation on why President Bush referred to Taiwan as a country during a speech last week in Washington, a Foreign Ministry official said on Saturday.

Reports in Taiwanese newspapers on Friday said Bush called the island the "Republic of Taiwan" and a "country" in an apparent slip of the tongue during a speech to diplomats and business executives on Thursday.

Calling Taiwan a country would threaten to compromise a major pillar of Sino-U.S. relations, which were set up in 1979 largely based on a U.S. nod to the "one China" principle, which states that Taiwan is a part of China.

"The Chinese side already asked the American side to give clarification on this," said a foreign ministry official reached by telephone.

Beijing views Taiwan -- which calls itself the Republic of China -- as a renegade province to be reunited eventually, by force if necessary.

Taiwan's United Daily News quoted a U.S. official as saying Bush's labeling Taiwan as a republic was a "slip of the tongue" and indicated no shift in U.S. policy.

Bush was referring to the entry late last year and this year of China and Taiwan, respectively, into the World Trade Organization, reports said.

The English-language Taipei Times newspaper quoted Bush as saying it was "important to recognize and to welcome both countries, both the Republic of Taiwan, and of course China, into the World Trade Organization."

The Taiwan issue has often caused rough patches in bilateral ties and U.S. arms sales to Taiwan have angered Beijing.

Last month an editorial in the official China Daily newspaper said Beijing felt "betrayed" after a U.S. decision to allow Taiwanese defense minister Tang Yiau-ming into the United States for talks with defense officials and warned of a setback in Sino-U.S. ties.

But foreign ministry officials later confirmed both sides were moving ahead with plans for a scheduled visit by Chinese Vice President Hu Jintao to the United States in April.


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Co-Owner
Bueno Technologies

[Zany-J]

Durr!

LOL- that is soo funny. He seems to be the equivalent of our put-your-foot-in-it Prince Phillip.

P.S. How did he get elected?

[The Horseman]

Does anyone know what Taiwan's actual status is?

[Phreakmeister]

It is a non-recognized country, or something like that. It has declared independence, and acts independently, but it's not recognized by any other country.
It shares the status with the likes of Somaliland, Puntland, Chechnya and others.

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Do you believe in death after life?

[ungua]

sorry, but bush was never elected... concerning the elections after all take this:

» 7th february 2001, the buckingham palace

notice of revocation of independence
____________________________________________


to the citizens of the united states of america,

in the light of your failure to properly elect a president of the usa and thus govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

her sovereign majesty queen elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories. except utah, which she does not fancy. your new prime minister (the rt. hon. tony blair, mp, for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware of the fact that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a minister for america without the need for further elections. congress and the senate will be disbanded. a questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

to aid in the transition to a british crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. you should look up »revocation« in the oxford english dictionary. then look up »aluminium«. check the pronunciation guide. you will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. look up »vocabulary«. using the same twenty seven words interspered with filler noises such as »like« and »you know« is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. look up »interspersed«.

2. there is no such thing as »us english«. we will let microsoft know on your behalf.

3. you should learn to distinguish the english and australian accents. it really isn't that hard.

4. hollywood will be required occasionally to cast english actors as the good guys.

5. arrest mel gibson for repeated treason.

6. you should relearn your original anthem, »god save the queen«, but only after fully carrying out task (1). we would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

7. you should stop playing american »football«. there is only one kind of football. what you refer to as american »football« is not a very good game. the 2.15% of you who are aware of the fact that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays »american« football. you will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. it is a difficult game. those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to american »football«, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds and wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies). we are hoping to get together at least a us rugby sevens side by 2005.

8. you should declare war on quebec and france, using nuclear weapons if they give you any merde. the 97.85% of you who were not aware of the fact that there is a world outside your borders should count yourselves lucky. the russians have never been the bad guys. »merde« is french for »****«.

9. july 4th is no longer a public holiday. november 8th will be a new national holiday, but only in england. it will be called »indecisive day«.

10. enjoy warm steak and kidney pudding. train waitresses to be more aggressive with customers and not to tell you their names before you eat.

11. all members of this british crown dependency will be required to take 6 weeks annual vacation and observe statutory tea breaks.

12. driving on the left is now compulsory - recall all cars to effect the change immediately.

13. stop referring to the world series of basebal and instead call it the national series of usa, cuba and japan.

tax collectors from her majesty's government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (retroactive to 1776).

thank you for your cooperation.«

regards,
ungua



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http://masses.ungua.de" TARGET=_blank>http://eidsbugarden.ungua.de
http://masses.ungua.de</A>

[aclu14]

Hee hee

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Stop monkeying around George Dubya! (http://pics.steakandcheese.com/ookook.jpg)

Join the Oppositionist Party! (http://www.geocities.com/lucifer_is_hungry/opinionated_online)

Hell, JUNIOR thinks Texas is a country, he is a puzzle.

[Sephirstein]

I'm sick of all you ****ing pinkos not recognising Taiwan's indepedence. I'm from the ****ing left, but I hate seeing it monopolised by commie dumbasses, and want to move it in a more libertarian direction. I hate Mao ding-dong-Stalin-****er (nothing wrong with being, but ****ing Stalin qualifies as bestiality) or any of those other Asian bosses who ****ed up the world. Join me, oh lovers of freedom...

TAIWAN FOREVER, CHINA NEVER!!!!!

[Sephirstein]

Oh, and I'm not too crazy about Christian fundie yankee doodle dumbass homophobes either. It's ****ing embarrassing that you need such morons to lead you in an otherwise legitimate war against terrorism.

[nacho cheese]

Natinalists escaped to Isle of Taiwan (which was a part of China) after they lost the civil war against communists. Taiwan was never independent before.

[Jeff]

I for one would rather see Taiwan recognized as a country, but the ironic thing is, the US government has avoided calling it one to keep better relations with China... all until Bush made a little mistake...

[Phreakmeister]

The US puts trade embargos on Cuba and North Korea for being "totalitarian communist dictatorships". China, one of the worst totalitarian communist dictatorships in history, however, is one of the biggest trading partners of the US.
The US claims to fight for freedom and democracy, but when they fear losing money fighting for it, they support the repressive totalitarian regime in Beijing, instead of the democratically elected government in Taipei.

As Sephirstein said: TAIWAN FOREVER, CHINA NEVER!!!

[Sephirstein]

This is the only place where I can tell the truth without being flamed. I've changed my mind though. I don't recognise Taiwan as a country or as a province of China. Why? I realised that it's ridiculous to call Taiwan a country if the Taiwanese have yet to even call themselves one in a referendum.

[Sephirstein]

I have decided that there is no good or bad/right or wrong in the China-Taiwan situation. Instead, I now believe that the Taiwan's future remains undetermined until the Taiwanese people (not China's government, not Taiwan's government, not China's people) take an official position through referendum.

In other words, it is not my place to say whether or not Taiwan is an independent nation.

Resulting from this position, I believe that:

a) China must never use force or any means other than a mandate from the Taiwanese people in a free and fair referendum to reconquer Taiwan.

b) The global community should abstain from official relations with Taiwan until the Taiwanese people determine their future, and should only oppose/support the One China principal if the Taiwanese people reject/accept it.

c) The "Taiwanese people", in this case, is defined as any Han who lived on Taiwan before Taipei became the seat of ROC government, the "mainland" Han nationalists who rejected communism and moved the seat of their government to Taipei, the Polynesian aboriginals who lived on the island before the Han people arrived, any citizens of Taiwan living overseas, and any citizen or permanent resident of Taiwan, regardless of ethnicity, that does not fall under the aforementioned categories.

d) The current quasi-provisional government of Taiwan has authority over the Taiwan Region (Taiwan and the other islands that are currently under Taiwanese governance) until it is compelled to call a referendum.

e) The referendum must be decisive. Reunification and independence should be the only options.

f) A vote in favour of independence should lead to the adoption of the name "Republic of Taiwan" and the end to all claims that land under PRC jurisdiction belongs to the ROC, while a vote against independence should lead to negotiations between the governments of China and Taiwan resulting in Taiwan's becoming an SAR of China and in a agreed-to Basic Law that must be followed to the letter by both Chinese and Taiwanese authority.