Ma calls on PRC to avoid disputes over sovereignty
　

SIGNAL: The KMT sees Beijing’s willingness to meet its delegation amid the Sichuan quake crisis as a sign that it takes its relations with Taiwan very seriously

By Shih Hsiu-Chuan and Mo Yan-Chih
STAFF REPORTER
Sunday, May 25, 2008, Page 1

“They [Beijing officials] told us that the cross-strait problem is also of importance to them.”－ — Wu Poh-hsiung, KMT chairman

President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday renewed his call on Beijing to set aside sovereignty disputes and reopen negotiations.

Ma, who took office last Tuesday, made the remarks at a tea gathering he organized for a group of senior Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) officials who will leave for China tomorrow.

KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄), who will head the delegation of 16 for the six-day visit, was invited by Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤).

Ma asked that Wu share his ideas on cross-strait relations in his inauguration address with Hu.

“Leaders of both sides [of the Taiwan Strait] should have foresight and keep cross-strait relations in perspective. [Both leaders should] set aside their disputes and prioritize urgent and easy-to-resolve problems to move the cross-strait relationship forward,” Ma said.

Ma said his administration would like to resume negotiations with China based on the so-called “1992 consensus,” which stipulates that both sides of the strait uphold the “one China principle,” but have a different interpretation of what “one China” means. The “consensus,” however, is not universally recognized as valid in Taiwan.

Wu will first travel to Nanjing to pay homage to Sun Yat-sen (孫逸仙), founder of the KMT, to report on the party’s electoral victories. He will then head for Beijing for a meeting with Hu before moving on to Shanghai to thank Taiwanese businesspeople for their support.

Wu, who said he initially had doubts as to why Hu had chosen to receive the KMT delegation at a time when Beijing is tied up with earthquake relief in Sichuan Province, made inquiries with the Chinese side.

“They told us that the cross-strait problem is also of importance to them,” Wu said.

Former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰) visited China in April 2005, marking the first time in decades leaders of the KMT and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) had met. During the visit, a KMT-CCP forum, which serves as a platform for both parties to discuss cross-strait issues, was created.

Ma said yesterday that Wu’s trip would be more significant as the KMT is now the ruling party.

Ma said he wished the KMT would continue with the KMT-CCP forum as it can act as a “second channel” to assist the official communication mechanism between the Straits Exchange Foundation and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait.

At the meeting, Ma also expressed his wish to help survivors of the earthquake in Sichuan.

Later yesterday during a luncheon with retired KMT military officers in Taipei, Wu said his meeting with Hu would follow a “party-to-party” formula and help promote cross-strait relations. “I see my trip as a meeting between the KMT chairman and the chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and hopefully our meeting will help President Ma Ying-jeou realize his cross-strait policies,” Wu said.

Among the reporters who are slated to travel with Wu to cover his China trip, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) rejected applications from the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) and the Apple Daily.

TAO cited “personal matters” in its rejection of the Liberty Times, KMT spokeswoman Chen Shu-jung (陳淑蓉) said last night. Chen added that the TAO suggested the paper assign someone else.

“I was told that the Liberty Times has refused to assign another reporter,” Chen said.

The Liberty Times issued a statement yesterday: “We send reporters to wherever news is happening. As for this case, we are still trying to figure out what is going on.”

Meanwhile, Ma will head a five-member team that will serve as the primary communication channel between the Presidential Office and the KMT.

The other team members are Vice President Vincent Siew (蕭萬長), Premier Liu Chao-shiuan (劉兆玄), Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平) and Wu.

Forum calls on Ma to value national sovereignty
　

INDEPENDENCE: Participants urged the president to take a firm stance in cross-strait negotiations and refrain from having the KMT take precedence in government affairs

STAFF WRITER, WITH CNA
Sunday, May 25, 2008, Page 3

Participants at a forum yesterday urged the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government to pay full heed to Taiwan’s sovereignty in its dealings with China.

Taiwan New Century Foundation chairman Chen Lung-chu (陳隆志) listed a number of what he called vital suggestions for the new KMT government in dealing with cross-strait relations.

Commenting on President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) promise in his May 20 inaugural address that Taiwan would not advocate independence, unification or the use of force in cross-strait relations, Chen suggested that the KMT government stand firm on the position that Taiwan is an independent state because it is not part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).

The government must also push China to recognize the cross-strait status quo, that is, there is one independent state on each side of the Strait, he said.

This must be done to help Taiwan avoid being swallowed up by China under the “1992 consensus” pretext of allowing each side to have its “own interpretation” of the so-called “one China” policy, Chen said.

He also said that the administration must continue to seek participation in international bodies, including the UN, using the name Taiwan, and pursue global support and recognition for the country.

He suggested that the new government do its best to ease Taiwan’s economic over-reliance on the Chinese market by diversifying Taiwan’s industrial development.

Taiwan Foundation for Democracy Deputy chief executive Tung Li-wen (董立文) said that the KMT government faced great challenges in its China policy.

Tung predicted that it would be difficult for Ma to shrug off the KMT’s pro-China stance and its interference in the government’s Chinese affairs as the KMT had set up an exchange mechanism with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) via a party-to-party platform over the past eight years.

China is pinning its hopes on the KMT to bring Taiwan closer to China, as evidenced by KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung’s (吳伯雄) upcoming visit to China at the invitation of the CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao (胡錦濤), he said.

He pointed out that the KMT-CCP platform would edge out Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation and its Chinese counterpart, the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, in future cross-strait interactions.

Tung also said that Beijing would attempt to lure the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and do whatever it could to divert the DPP from its pro-independence stance and use it to contain the KMT.

Commenting on Ma’s plans to open Taiwan wider to China on a range of fronts, such as direct weekend charter flights and allowing more Chinese tourists and students into the country, Tung warned that broader economic cross-strait exchanges would increasingly push Taiwan toward an M-shaped society and that an influx of cheap Chinese products would further sharpen the divide between rich and poor in Taiwan.

Paul Lin (林保華), a political analyst, said that the CCP’s efforts to build closer links with the KMT were aimed at upgrading the KMT’s status in cross-strait exchanges to take precedence over official agencies and downgrade the country’s sovereignty.

Beijing must offer an olive branch
　

By Ralph Cossa
Sunday, May 25, 2008, Page 8

“Be careful what you wish for.” This old Chinese proverb came repeatedly to mind when listening to President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) forward-looking inauguration address, which offered so many olive branches to Beijing that even some of his ardent supporters feared he had “gone too far,” and protesters almost immediately took to the streets in Taipei, warning against “selling out” to China.

The big question now is can Beijing, after hearing “no” for the past eight years, take “yes” for an answer. Ma called on Beijing to join him in “launching a new era of cross-strait relations,” based on his “three noes” policy: no unification, no independence, and no use of force.

He talked about “one China, respective interpretations” and the “1992 consensus” and made several references to “our mutual Chinese heritage.” He also committed to maintaining the “status quo” across the Strait, noting at one point that, “in a young democracy, respecting the Constitution is more important than amending it,” highlighting the fact that his predecessor’s attempts to amend the Constitution by way of referendum were a main source of tension between Taipei and Beijing.

In a truly unprecedented gesture, Ma also made positive references to Chinese President Hu Jintao’s (胡錦濤) remarks on cross-strait relations — “building mutual trust, shelving controversies, finding commonalities despite differences and creating together a win-win solution.”

Ma laid out the normalization of economic and cultural relations with China as immediate goals, but warned that “Taiwan doesn’t just want security and prosperity; it wants dignity.”

Herein lies the rub.

It should be relatively easy for Beijing to respond positively to Ma’s calls for direct weekend charter flights and visits to Taiwan by Chinese tourists and other economic and cultural exchanges. Some security gesture, such as a visible drawback of missiles opposite Taiwan, is also doable without dramatically changing the security calculus. But, is Beijing prepared to make significant gestures aimed at truly improving Taiwan’s sense of security and easing its international isolation?

A failure by Beijing to respond positively to Ma’s olive branches will seriously undercut the new Taiwanese leader as he tries to build consensus at home in support of his forward-looking cross-Strait policies. His address is already being labelled by the opposition as “naive” and “wishful thinking.” Will Beijing prove this to be the case?

For its part, the Chinese leadership is preoccupied with other things right now — earthquake relief, Olympics preparations, unrest in Tibet and elsewhere — while breathing a sigh of relief that its main nemesis, former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) is finally out of the picture. Beijing appeared almost paranoid about Chen springing an 11th hour surprise on them; a fear exacerbated by its lack of understanding about how democratic transitions work. This one worked flawlessly, as Chen had promised.

Beijing immediately opted to pass on its first chance to make a positive political gesture by once again blocking Taiwan’s bid for observer status in the WHO. Chen’s decision to apply as “Taiwan” rather than “Chinese Taipei” regrettably made it easier for Beijing to once again block this request, but it could have asked the WHO to postpone consideration of Taiwan’s bid for a few days to allow for a reformulation of the application, rather than quickly excluding it from the agenda. As a result, Beijing needs to quickly find some other venues to provide the dignity that Ma seeks and Taiwan richly deserves.

It appears that Beijing is still struggling to figure out how to deal with a potentially friendly government in Taipei after years of branding every positive gesture by the Chen administration a mere “splittist trick.”

The real concern, as some Chinese candidly expressed to me during a recent visit to Beijing, is finding ways to expand Taiwan’s “international breathing space” without further enhancing its status as a sovereign independent entity (or dare we say “country”). Fear that gestures made now could be exploited by Taiwan under later governments were also cited as a reason for moving slowly, but moving too slowly or too little will increase the prospects of a DPP return to power.

It is important for Beijing not to wait too long before making some significant gestures. For starters, it can observe Ma’s call for a “truce” in the international arena.

In recent years, Beijing has taken great delight in humiliating Taiwan by spiriting away its few remaining allies, normally through a shameless bidding war that has lent little dignity to either side. This must stop. If no one recognizes the Republic of China, why not just declare itself the Republic of Taiwan now and end the “one China” charade?

A dramatic military gesture will also be needed. Withdrawing some easily redeployed mobile missiles is not enough. Beijing needs to deactivate and plow over some of the 1,000 missile sites it has poised opposite Taiwan as a true goodwill gesture.

The semi-official cross-strait dialogue between Beijing’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS) and Taipei’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) also needs to resume. Dialogue should also begin on cross-strait confidence building and conflict avoidance measures. Beijing also needs to loosen restrictions it has imposed on Taiwan in the WHO as a first step toward allowing “Chinese Taipei” to gain observer status as a “health entity” next year.

Beijing also needs to stop its heavy-handed pressure aimed at blocking participation by Taiwanese scholars at academic gatherings like the annual ASEAN ISIS Roundtable and should take steps to help elevate Taiwan’s status in the non-governmental Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) and other track-two organizations, while also supporting higher-level Taiwanese participation in the APEC summit and other forums.

Ma took a big political risk in reaching out to Beijing. Beijing needs to respond. Washington also needs to respond to Ma’s gestures, while strongly encouraging Beijing to make significant positive gestures.

Ralph Cossa is president of the Pacific Forum CSIS, a Honolulu-based non-profit research institute affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, and senior editor of Comparative Connections, a quarterly electronic journal.