20120723 DPP is firm on China name issue

DPP is firm on China name issue

WHAT’S IN A NAME? The Democratic Progressive Party intends to keep ‘China’ in the names of two departments, not ‘cross-strait’, as Beijing wishes

By Chris Wang / Staff reporter

Former Democratic Progressive Party chairperson Tsai Ing-wen is seen at an event in Miaoli City yesterday where she urged the Ma administration to “seriously consider” the establishment of a credible medical team to conduct a physical and psychological examination of former president Chen Shui-bian.
Photo: CNA

The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday said it would carefully review the names of a pair of party institutions that handle Chinese affairs without succumbing to pressure from Beijing.

The party made the comments in response to a story published in yesterday’s edition of the Chinese-language Apple Daily, which reported that Beijing had pressured the DPP to drop “China” from the names of two soon-to-be-established departments and use “cross-strait” instead.

In a bid to forge a better understanding of China, DPP Chairman Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) said the party would reinstate the Department of China Affairs and establish a Chinese Affairs Committee, which would include academics, party officials and civic groups.

DPP spokesperson Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said the party would not necessarily change the name, because “if all the countries in the world call the country China, why can’t Taiwan do the same?”

While some academics did recommend changing the name, Lin said “the DPP did not see this as pressure, nor could Beijing pressure the DPP to change the name.”

Speaking to reporters in Taoyuan County yesterday, Su denied there was any Chinese pressure and said the DPP would stand firm on its position.

Former DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said on the sidelines of an event in Miaoli City that this was not the first time Beijing had pressured the DPP about nomenclature, adding that the party “should stand firm on its position.”

DPP Legislator Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the party should be open-minded and pragmatic.

There is no need to change the name of the Department of China Affairs to the Department of Cross-Strait Affairs because the department was reinstated, Lin said.

“The DPP should be open-minded and the terms of China and cross-strait could co-exist since its goal is to increase bilateral engagement. Nomenclature is a secondary issue,” Lin Chia-lung said.