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Reporters
misinterpreted Ma, GIO says
SAME OLD STORY: The Government Information
Office disputed an interview during which a Japanese newspaper said he had not
ruled out negotiations on unification
By Shih Hsiu-chuan / Staff Reporter
President Ma Ying-jeou (°¨^¤E) was misunderstood by a Japanese newspaper
concerning his stance on the ¡§one China¡¨ policy and the unification of Taiwan
and China, Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Philip Yang (·¨¥Ã©ú) said
yesterday.
The GIO on Friday demanded that the Yomiuri Shimbun run a correction on what it
called ¡§inconsistency¡¨ in the transcript of a joint Nihon Keizai Shimbun
interview with Ma on Thursday.
In an article published on Friday, the Yomiuri Shimbun said Ma had conducted
cross-strait relations under the ¡§one China¡¨ principle for the past three years,
the GIO said.
The GIO¡¦s statement said the Yomiuri Shimbun also quoted Ma as saying that he
did not rule out engaging China in political negotiations or signing a peace
agreement regarding Taiwan¡¦s unification with China.
Yang, who was present during the interview, said the Yomiuri Shimbun might have
made a slip of the pen regarding the one China principle, saying that Ma made no
mention of unification when he answered the questions.
In a transcript provided by the Presidential Office, Ma said the development of
cross-strait relations was based on the principles of ¡§one China, with each side
[of the Strait] having its own interpretation¡¨ and the so-called ¡§1992
consensus¡¨ under the framework of the Republic of China¡¦s Constitution.
Ma said he adhered to the principle of ¡§no unification, no independence and no
use of force¡¨ to maintain the ¡§status quo¡¨ in cross-strait relations.
¡§The questions both of you asked regarding meeting with the mainland¡¦s leaders,
entering negotiations with the mainland on political issues and [signing] a
peace agreement in the future, we do not rule out the possibility, but we do not
have a timetable,¡¨ Ma said, according to the transcript.
During the interview, Ma spoke in Mandarin to Yomiuri Shimbun and Nihon Keizai
Shimbun reporters through a translator, Yang said.
The GIO said it has not received a response from the Yomiuri Shimbun to its
demand.
Toward the end of the interview, the Yomiuri Shimbun suggested that Ma, the
first Mainlander to be elected president since Taiwan began democratically
electing its president in 1996, has been haunted by his ethnic origin.
At a time when repression against ethnic Taiwanese after the Chinese Nationalist
Party (KMT) regime fled to Taiwan from China is still being discussed, Ma will
anger ethnic Taiwanese if he makes any mistakes in running the government, the
Yomiuri Shimbun said.
The newspapers also quoted ¡§people close to Ma¡¨ as saying that Ma had complained
to his family and people around him that ¡§no matter what he said and did,
everything was interpreted in a bad way. There was no reward for him.¡¨
It is important for Ma to overcome the distrust of ethnic Taiwanese while he
brings Taiwan closer to China for economic benefits, the Yomiuri Shimbun said,
adding that Ma must still work to convince people of his insistence on Taiwan¡¦s
sovereignty.
The GIO said in a statement that the latter part of the story was ¡§subjective
bias,¡¨ ¡§inconsistent with history and facts¡¨ and ¡§could mislead readers.¡¨
Ma did not say anything about Mainlanders in the interview, Yang said.
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