Powell approves of referendum - TW

[dArKeR]

"Taiwan is a democratic place. If they choose to have a referendum, they can have a referendum."

Colin Powell, US secretary of state

US Secretary of State Colin Powell appeared to signal a retreat from the Bush administration's tough line on the Taiwan referendum on Wednesday in testimony before a congressional committee hearing on President George W. Bush's fiscal 2005 budget request for the State Department and foreign affairs.

"Taiwan is a democratic place," he told the House International Relations Committee. "If they choose to have a referendum, they can have a referendum."

Powell omitted from his comments recent administration statements that linked the planned referendum with changing the "status quo" in the Taiwan Strait, a connection Bush and his aides have repeatedly made.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2004/02/13/2003098538