LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Reconsidering our position

Dear Editor:

Thank you for your coverage of the Council on Foreign Relations in your 10 October 2001 issue. I would, however, like to correct an inaccuracy on page 24.

In your profile of the Council on you include the Council's "Position on Taiwan." This is incorrect. The policy position that you refer to on this page comes from a Council sponsored independent Task Force on Taiwan and was endorsed by the members of that group only. The Council itself takes no institutional position on policy issues.

Best, Elizabeth Economy Senior Fellow, China Studies; Deputy Director, Asia Studies

Editor's reply:

In using the term "position on Taiwan," we did not mean to imply that the CFR has formally endorsed these ideas, but that they reflect the work being produced by thinkers associated with the CFR. We thank you for your clarification. Perhaps the Chinese term xueshu guandian would have been more aptly translated as "academic viewpoint" than "position."

Correction:

On page 28 of the October issue, we wrote: "C.J. Chen, currently the ROC representative in Washington, says that you could immediately see the impact of 'blue team' scholars after the Bush administration came into office. A clear example was the dignified treatment of President Chen Shui-bian during his stopover in New York. 'It's a completely different situation from the stopover in Los Angeles last year,' notes Chen." This comment was actually made in an interview with Lin Chong-pin, vice-chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council. Mr. Chen was nonetheless positive about the respectful treatment accorded President Chen Shui-bian in New York. We apologize to both men for the error.

Here is what C.J. Chen had to say when Sinorama discussed the matter with him:

Q: President Chen met with think-tank scholars and members of Congress during his last stopover in the United States. Do you think that this has had any direct effect on Taiwan's relationship with the US?

A: President Chen had to curtail his activities severely when he passed through Los Angeles in August of last year. We felt that was very wrong, but we're very happy that the new US administration has made a reasonable adjustment. When President Chen passed through New York and Houston this year, he met a lot of people and visited a lot of places. That's an indication that the new administration didn't just allow him the stopovers out of consideration for the president's safety and comfort, but also did so out of a desire to show him respect. Everyone can see this change very clearly, and they've reacted quite positively. I think the US administration's treatment of our president constitutes a very reasonable adjustment from our perspective, and it makes good sense from the US perspective as well.