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Cross-strait
political issues not being shied from: Ma
INESCAPABLE: Political exchanges with Beijing
are not avoidable because cross-strait policies like the setting up of
representative offices have political meaning, Ma said
By Mo Yan-chih / Staff reporter
President Ma Ying-jeou, right,
shakes hands with former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) chairman Wu Poh-hsiung
at the Presidential Office in Taipei yesterday as Wu prepared to attend a
cross-strait forum in Guangxi Province, China, this weekend.
Photo: CNA
The government does not avoid political
issues in conducting cross-strait relations with China, President Ma Ying-jeou
(馬英九) said yesterday, raising concerns about his administration’s interest in
starting a political dialogue with China.
“The public tends to think that the government only promotes economic exchanges
in cross-strait relations and skips political issues. That is not how we handle
cross-strait relations. We do not avoid sensitive political issues
intentionally,” Ma said at a meeting with a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
delegation heading to a forum with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in China on
Saturday.
The “economics first, politics later” remains the government’s policy for
dealing with China, but it does not mean that the government would avoid
addressing political issues, he said.
Citing the signing of the cross-strait agreements on joint efforts to combat
crimes and mutual legal assistance as examples, Ma said these issues carried
some political significance and the government will address such issues if
necessary.
“The establishment of cross-strait representative offices, for example, is
neutral in nature. However, it is also without a doubt that the issue carries
some political significance. If we do not address the issue, we will not be able
to put high-level political issues on the table,” he said.
Ma’s comments came amid speculation over the KMT’s response to growing Chinese
pressure to accelerate political talks since Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平)
took office in March.
Led by former KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), the delegation will attend the
forum in Nanning, Guangxi Province, on Saturday and Sunday. It will be the first
forum since Xi took office.
Ma, who doubles as KMT chairman, yesterday also repeated his call for the
legislature to pass the amendment to the Act Governing Relations between the
People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) to pave the
way for the establishment of representative offices and to approve the
cross-strait service trade agreement.
He also defended his Double Ten National Day speech, in which he said that
cross-strait relations are “not international relations,” but rather special
relations because “mainland China” is part of the territory of the Republic of
China, as stated in the Constitution.
“It is impossible for us to recognize [mainland China] as another nation within
our territory,” he said.
Wu, who has been serving as Ma’s envoy to the annual forum in the past years,
triggered heated debate last year when he said cross-strait relations are not
state-to-state relations at the meeting.
Ma said he believed Wu would discuss the government’s cross-strait policies
clearly when meeting with representatives from China.
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