In their statement released at the House, Scott Garrett (Republican-New Jersey), Pete Sessions (Republican-Texas) and Virginia Foxx (Republican North Carolina) praised Chen as a peace-loving leader and expressed their approval for Chen's repeated commitment to maintaining the cross-Taiwan Strait status quo and tempering tensions across the strait.

Expressing concern over the enactment of the Anti-Secession Law by China last year, the military buildup of the People's Liberation Army and China's missile deployment targeting Taiwan, they said it is necessary for the U.S. government to reiterate its stand against the use of force to resolve cross-strait differences, and they urged Beijing to respect the Taiwan people's strong desire to be their own masters.

Garrett noted that President Chen has proposed scrapping the National Unification Council because he does not want unification to become the only option for the future development of cross-strait relations.

Meanwhile, Sessions pointed out that the House passed a resolution by an overwhelming vote of 424-4 last year to voice its concern over the enactment of the Anti-Secession Law, which he said shows that there is a very high degree of consensus among members of the House expecting Beijing to abolish the law and maintain peace across the strait.

In a speech given on Lunar New Year's Day on January 29, Chen proposed that Taiwan should seriously consider scrapping the National Unification Council and the National Unification Guidelines and seeking to join the United Nations under the name of Taiwan. Chen also proposed drafting a new constitution by the end of this year to be put forth for a referendum in 2007.

Responding to the speech, U.S. State Department officials reiterated that the U.S.' long-standing policy aimed at promoting peace, stability and prosperity in the region remains unchanged and that Washington does not support Taiwan independence and opposes unilateral changes to the status quo by either Taiwan or Beijing.

Source: Taiwan News