For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
March 26, 2004

Statement on Taiwan Elections
Statement by the Press Secretary
Announcement of Election Results on Taiwan

We join the American people in congratulating the people of Taiwan on the successful conclusion of their March 20 presidential election. Taiwan's Central Election Commission on March 26 officially proclaimed that Mr. Chen Shui-bian has won reelection, and we congratulate Mr. Chen on his victory.

We recognize that there are pending legal challenges to the results of the March 20 election. We applaud the people of Taiwan for embracing established legal mechanisms and rejecting extra-legal options to resolve their differences. We reject calls for violence, which threaten the very democratic principles to which we and the people of Taiwan are committed.

The maintenance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait and the welfare of the people of Taiwan remain of profound importance to the United States. To advance these goals, the United States will fulfill its obligations under the Taiwan Relations Act. It falls to Taiwan and Beijing to build the essential foundations for peace and stability by pursuing dialogue through all available means and refraining from unilateral steps that would alter Taiwan's status.

We will continue to maintain close unofficial ties with the people on Taiwan through the American Institute in Taiwan in accordance with our one China policy, as embodied in the Taiwan Relations Act and our three Joint Communiqus with the People's Republic of China.

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