NEARLY 40 US WARSHIPS HELP DEFEND TAIWAN DURING 1996 CRISIS
Taipei, Aug. 20 (CNA) The United States sent nearly 40 warships to help defend Taiwan in early 1996 when Beijing lobbed missiles into the Taiwan Strait in the run-up to the island's first-ever direct presidential election, a Kuomintang official said on Friday.
Chang Jung-kung, director of the KMT's Mainland Affairs Research Department, made the revelation in a speech on cross-strait relations and Taiwan's policy toward mainland China.
Chang said the fire-power carried by the American warships far exceeded mainland China's three naval fleets.
Chang mentioned this episode in an attempt to convince mainland China to end its current rounds of saber-rattling against Taiwan simply because ROC President Lee Teng-hui declared in an interview with a German radio station on July 9 that relations across the Taiwan Strait should be on a "special state-to-state" basis.
Chang said Lee's statement mainly affirms reality and does not mark a shift in Taiwan's mainland policy.
Quoting the results of many public opinion polls conducted after Lee's "special state-to-state" declaration, Chang said most local people support the definition and that less than 20 percent oppose such a declaration.
Moreover, Chang said, all major political parties here unanimously insist that cross-strait relations should be on a basis of parity and equality.
If Beijing disagrees with the "special state-to-state" theory, Chang went on, it should negotiate with Taiwan for working out a mutually acceptable solution.
"Therefore, we sincerely hope that mainland China's top negotiator Wang Daohan will visit Taiwan as scheduled," Chang said, adding that Wang's visit can help forge goodwill and mutual understanding.
Chang said he does not think that the basis for cross-strait talks no longer exist in the wake of Lee's "special state-to-state" definition.
Chang said the 1992 "one China" principle, which allowed each side to have its own definition of "one China," still can serve as the basis for cross-strait dialogue.
"Even though the two sides remain divided over the definition of 'one China,' they can talk to work out a solution," Chang stressed.
He said mainland China need not think that Wang's visit to Taiwan would mark an endorsement to the "special state-to-state" theory. "While we disagree with Beijing's 'one China' principle, we still sent our top negotiator Koo Chen-fu to the mainland last year in an effort to forge rapprochement and pave the way for resumption of regular cross-strait dialogue," Chang noted. (By Sofia Wu)
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