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China accuses MAC of
being ‘passive’
BRISTLING DEFENSE: MAC officials said the
government was stabilizing cross-strait relations slowly, while legislators said
Taiwanese rejected any ‘united front’ rhetoric
By Chen Hui-ping and Tseng Wei-chen / Staff Reporters, with CNA
Following the Mainland Affairs Council’s (MAC) refusal to endorse an economic
development project on a Chinese island touted by Beijing as an “experimental
zone” for joint development by Taiwan and China, Beijing yesterday slammed the
council for “often playing a passive role in the development of cross-strait
negotiations.”
“We do not wish to comment on every word uttered by the MAC, but we feel that
the council too often plays a passive role in the development of cross-strait
relations,” China’s Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Yang Yi (楊毅) said yesterday.
Yang was apparently referring to the position announced by the council on
Thursday, in which it said China should refrain from political overtures when
promoting cross-strait cooperation on Pingtan Island, where the Pingtan
Comprehensive Experimental Zone is being developed by China’s Fujian Provincial
Government as a pilot area for cross-strait cooperation.
“What they [the Chinese authorities] want to do in the Pingtan area is their own
business. It has nothing to do with [Taiwanese] government policy,” MAC Deputy
Minister Kao Charng (高長) said on Thursday.
China had given too much of a political overtone to the Pingtan project, which
was designed in accordance with its “12th five-year plan” that handles
cross-strait relationships under the principle of the “one country, two systems”
formula, MAC spokesman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) added, saying that more than 80 percent
of Taiwanese reject such a formula.
MAC official Lu Chang-shui (盧長水) said yesterday that it was the mutual goal of
both sides to build a more solid base on which win-win cross-strait relations
could be achieved.
The government was taking the process slowly in order to stabilize cross-strait
relations, Lu said, adding: “The MAC has always worked toward our goal on this
basis, and there is no problem of it being passive or active. We hope that both
sides of the strait cherish the hard-won results of recent years.”
The council also has a different take on Taiwan Affairs Office Minister Wang
Yi’s (王毅) recent comment on pro-Taiwan independence forces.
Addressing the 10th Cross-strait Relations Forum on Thursday in China’s Yunnan
Province, Wang said China placed great emphasis on contact and interaction with
Taiwanese.
“We must encourage our brethren on both sides of the Strait to reinforce the
recognition that we are one ethnic group and continue to purge the remnants of
dangerous thoughts of pro-Taiwanese independence from the educational and
cultural sectors,” he said.
Commenting on Wang’s remarks regarding “purging the remnants of danger posed by
pro-Taiwanese independence thoughts,” Liu said that as Taiwan is a democratic
and dynamic society: “We do not have such a problem.”
Wang’s comments were met with scathing rebuttals by Democratic Progressive Party
(DPP) and Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers, saying such reactionary
“united front” (統戰) rhetoric is unacceptable to Taiwanese.
“If China cannot yet accept that there are two countries across the Strait and
is still living in its own world, the cross-strait psychological distance will
only grow, whilst the Taiwanese will only distrust the Chinese government more,”
DPP Legislator Tsai Chi-chang (蔡其昌) said.
TSU Legislator Lin Shih-chia (林世嘉) said that a Taiwan--centric view is deeply
rooted in the hearts of all Taiwanese and if China still desires interaction,
Taiwan would be glad to share with China the experiences and value of liberty
and democracy.
Translated by Jake Chung, Staff Writer
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