Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice issued an unusually sharp rebuke on December 21 to Taiwan, pointedly calling its planned referendum on United Nations membership "provocative."
During a State Department news conference, Ms. Rice said: "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."
While she reiterated the administration policy -- that the United States "opposes any threat to use force and any unilateral move by either side to change the status quo" -- she placed the United States solidly on the side of China on the issue of Taiwan's referendum. China regards Taiwan as a breakaway province that should ultimately be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary.
Administration officials said there was increased frustration with Taiwan's president, Chen Shui-bian. Beijing has criticized Taiwan's referendum as a step toward formal independence; the attempt at a name change is important because Taiwan's formal name, the Republic of China, is taken by Beijing as connoting fealty to the one-China idea. (Source: Thom Shanker and Helene Cooper, New York Times, Dec 22, 2007).