President Lee Teng-hui told a U.S. envoy yesterday that his policy shift characterizing Taiwan as a state was made "to reflect, in his capacity as a national leader, what the majority of the island's people think."

"This is a demonstration of how public opinion is fully respected in a democratic country," Lee, Taiwan's first popularly elected president, told American Institute in Taiwan Chairman Richard Bush.

Government spokesman Chen Chien-jen earlier had dodged a reporter's question on whether the government was using public opinion as a tactic to put pressure on the United States.

Lee, whose term ends in eight months, was quoted as saying in a Presidential Office statement that the Republic of China government will continue to push for constructive talks and exchanges with the mainland. "This long-standing policy has never changed," he said.

The statement quoted Bush as saying he had a better comprehension of the meaning of Lee's comments to a German radio station on July 9 that relations with the mainland has been on a "special state to state" basis since 1991. The redefinition dumped the "one-China" policy and enraged China, which threatened to use force to punish Taiwan.

Bush will hold a news conference tomorrow before leaving Taiwan but will not make public statements before then, AIT spokeswoman Susan Stahl said last night.

Before meeting Lee, Bush earlier in the day had met Vice President Lien Chan, Premier Vincent Siew, Foreign Minister Jason Hu, Defense Minister Tang Fei and Mainland Affairs Council chairman Su Chi.

"Parity is the name of the game, not independence," Lien told Bush. He said Lee's remarks were a "pragmatic self-positioning, a pragmatic reflection of the reality, and have not changed the policy."

Another Presidential Office statement quoted the vice president, whom Lee favors as his successor, as saying that any attempts to link Lee's statement to independence would be misguided.

"Parity, pragmatic, progress, and peace are the four elements that we should look at when interpreting Lee's new view on cross-strait relations," Lien said.

Government spokesman Chen, meanwhile, quoted Siew as telling Bush that the restatement was meant to open an "unprecedented" relationship with the mainland.

Bush arrived in Taipei on Thursday evening to seek clarification from local officials on Lee's earlier statement that the 1991 constitutional amendments have made cross-strait ties a special state-to-state relationship.

Siew reassured Bush that the government has never intended to modify the mainland policy or change the Constitution.

He said introducing the idea of "special state-to-state relationship" as a new foundation for future cross-strait contacts was aimed to better serve "unprecedented" ties with China.

But Chen left the word "unprecedented" unexplained, adding to possible confusion over various wordings Taipei has used to redefine its new relationship with Beijing. That in turn has added to speculation that Taipei has given up its previous hopes to follow the German formula of reunification.

Bush emerged from his half-hour meeting with Hu saying they had "exchanged views ... during the meeting between two friends," but he declined to disclose the specifics of the discussion.

Hu later told reporters that Bush had reaffirmed U.S.'s commitment to its policy to support Taiwan.

The U.S. official, according to Hu, also denied reports that the Clinton administration plans to impose a series of sanctions on Taiwan.

The core message Bush had passed along to Taipei was a hope to reduce the misunderstanding and subsequently defuse tensions in the Taiwan Strait, Hu said.

MAC Chairman Su told reporters after his meeting with Bush that both China and Taiwan should "sit down and talk" so as to resolve their differences.

Tang, the defense minister, denied that he had discussed with Bush Taiwan's aspirations to join the U.S.-led regional theater missile defense program.

"We only talked about the 'principle issues'," said Tang, referring to military exchanges and cooperation projected which are endorsed under the Taiwan Relations Act.

Bush will meet with Koo Chen-fu, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, tomorrow morning before his departure. Koo is expected to explain Taipei's position shift to his Beijing counterpart Wang Daohan.

The U.S. has also dispatched Stanley Roth, the assistant secretary of state, to Beijing in a two-pronged diplomatic bid to end the cross-strait animosity, which has been looming larger over the past two weeks.

The deteriorating relations have cast a shadow on prospects of a planned visit by Wang to Taiwan this fall. Wang has warned that the trip may be canceled if Koo fails to provide a convincing clarification of Lee's statement.