US Meets with Blues on Chen Ouster Drive

The US sent a message yesterday to the Blues.....

The US, concerned about the proliferation of attempts to depose President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), has told lawmakers in Taiwan that it wants Chen to remain in power for the sake of stability in the country, local media reports said yesterday.

The US conveyed the message through Stephen Young, director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the Chinese-language China Times and the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times' sister paper) reported.

Young has met with Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and several other lawmakers regarding the anti-Chen movement and expressed Washington's position on the issue, the newspapers said.

Young said the issue was an internal affair of Taiwan's and the US does not want to get involved. But unless there was evidence proving Chen was involved in the series of financial and corruption scandals he has been accused of, he should remain in power for the sake of stability, Young is reported to have said.

I hope the US has been noticing how badly the Blues have been listening to it so far. Anyone remember when Wang promised to help get the arms budget passed? I seem to recall Ma saying something similar. But there are still many on the US side who think that the Blues will work with them come 2008.

[Taiwan] [US] [US Foreign Policy]