During a visit to China, Powell stunned Taiwanese by speaking of the island's eventual reunification with China, and by saying Taiwan "does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation."
Government officials called for an explanation, and the State Department said U.S. policy on China-Taiwan was unchanged.
Political commentator Yang Sien-hong said from Taipei Thursday the words had caused a storm.
He noted, however, that the State Department appeared to be trying to clarify that Powell meant to speak of a peaceful "resolution" rather than peaceful "reunification."
Yang also said there was a small but significant difference between Powell saying that Taiwan "does not enjoy sovereignty as a nation," and the way the phrase was translated into Chinese in Taiwanese media - essentially that Taiwan was "not a sovereign nation."
Still, he said, many "furious" Taiwanese were talking about contacting Taiwanese-American relatives and friends, encouraging them to seek clarity urgently from Republican election campaign offices.
Powell's comments had left many worried that the Bush administration, which was viewed as sympathetic toward Taiwan, was moving to a new position.
Yang, who supports Taiwanese independence, said any such move was unexpected because Republican administrations had over the years generally been regarded as being of greater benefit to Taiwan.
An American lawyer and analyst who lived in Taiwan during most of President Clinton's second term and during the current Bush presidency, said Thursday worried Taiwanese should "take a time-out."
"The guy made a mistake," he said of Powell. "If you think he was going to choose that forum [media interviews while visiting China] to announce a dramatic shift in policy, you're just not familiar with the issues."
Because the China-Taiwan situation was so finely-balanced and semantics were so important, when a poor choice of words is used, it causes a stir.
The lawyer, a supporter of President Bush who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Taiwanese had reason to be wary of Democratic administrations and policies.
"The Democratic policy-making community has clearly showed a tendency to pressurize Taiwan to give in to China," he said.
He cited officials like Richard Holbrooke and Winston Lord, assistant secretaries of state for East Asia and the Pacific in the Carter and Clinton administrations respectively.
"These are all people who have publicly advocated that Taiwan enter into interim agreements [with Beijing] - things that the Taiwanese do not favor and do not see too much advantage in."
Three noes, six assurances
Taiwanese also recalled, he said, that Clinton in a 1998 visit to the mainland delivered a speech containing what became known as the "three noes" policy - no support for Taiwan's independence, no support for two Chinas, and no support for Taiwan's membership in international organizations that require statehood.
That contrasted with President Reagan's 1982 "six assurances" to Taiwan, the most important of which was that the U.S. "has not changed our long-standing policy on the matter of sovereignty over Taiwan." That "long-standing" policy, according to China analysts, is that the issue of sovereignty over Taiwan is "undetermined."
Reagan's "assurances" also confirmed that that the U.S. would not terminate arms sales to Taiwan. In 2001, Bush agreed to the most far-reaching weapons package for Taiwan in decades.
The lawyer also noted that during Iowa Democratic primaries' debate last January, Sen. John Kerry had said he advocated "one country, two systems" solution for Taiwan - the formula which governed Hong Kong's return to the mainland in 1997.
"I can assure you that no matter where someone stands in Taiwan on independence or long-term reunification, there is zero support for the 'one country, two systems' model," he said.
"If you ask even the most pro-unification person in Taiwan, they'll tell you they don't agree with that model."
Even if Kerry's comment had been the result of poor preparation or bad advice, "it did scare a lot of people in Taipei," he said.
Dr. Jian Yang, a China specialist at the University of Auckland, said that although the overall U.S.-China relationship had improved in recent years, the Chinese government tended to be very wary of Bush when it came to Taiwan.
He said Beijing had been "shocked" during the early months of Bush's presidency by his strong support for Taiwan.
Although Washington had taken some steps subsequently to restrain Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian's more controversial pro-independence moves, "in Beijing's view, that was not enough," he said.
"With regard to Taiwan, I don't think Beijing is very happy with George Bush's policies."
Yang said China also had some uneasiness about Kerry, worrying how he might approach trade issues as president.
See related story:
US Assures Taiwan it Has Not Changed Policy (Oct. 28, 2004)
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